


I Spi(e)d (h)er

by Mira dun (Miricat)



Series: Punished world [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Future, Alternate Timeline, Animal Transformation, Animal hybrids, Australia, Coming of Age, Demons, Dodgy science, Explosions, Fantasy, Mad Scientist, Magic, Magic and Science, Science Fiction, daemon, magic is science?, perth australia, set in australia, set is oz, this world but different
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-20
Updated: 2018-06-03
Packaged: 2019-05-09 07:18:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 26,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14711588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miricat/pseuds/Mira%20dun
Summary: After an explosion in her home town Ara must search for her family and the source of the explosion while avoid being captured.





	1. The beginning

Ara slammed her eyes shut in pain as her bones began to shatter, her blood bubbled and boiled in her veins. Her skin started shaking as if it was trying to escape. Her jaw ached and eyes burned. The glass box in her hands holding her pet spider, fell from her loose grip. The room spun and spun and spun, until Ara felt like she was going to faint.

Suddenly everything stopped, the pain went and her senses sharpened.

Ara looked around the room she once knew, the glass box lay in shards at her feet, her pet spider was nowhere to be seen. Ara felt sadness as the pet had been given to her by her father.

This had been a great shock to her as she had just wanted an ordinary pet like a cat, dog or fish and he had given this poisonous arachnid to her.

It was totally out of the blue but Ara wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth or a gift dad in this case. As he usually gave her what he called his knowledge, which in reality was  
usually useless or demeaning.

"People who act are liars and cheats. All artists are freaks and creeps, who exploit the public's need to laugh and feel good." Another example "drama will get you nowhere,  
drama! The one true way to get where you wish to is to follow the way of science".

She had asked for a pet and after several months of tiptoeing around her father and mother so her parents wouldn't refuse to get her a pet.

She had now lost her spider, her very poisonous Sydney funnel web. Ara shuddered she was going to be in so much trouble from them.

* * *

  
A loud crash brought her thoughts back to the present

The small green bedside table that had been tilting at a dangerous angle, with a massive tree root slowly smashing into it, finally gave way and fell forward shattering the small hand mirror that was lying on top.

Ara knelt down and carefully picked up the largest shard and stared in shock at her  
appearance. Her short bobbed brown hair now fell in tangled ebony knots down to her knees. She knew the long length would be a pain to deal with, she had cut her hair short in the first place for a reason.

Using the sharp piece of mirror she sliced her hair to shoulder length, in the process cutting her hand on the sharp shard, the once red blood was now an acid green and dissolved the shard in her hand but not her skin as the green blood travelled down her palm and dripped off of her fingertips.

Her soft bluey grey eyes were now two sharp ruby daggers, daring anyone to approach her.

Her thin mouth was now covered by a pair of sharp curved black mandibles.

That sharp gust of wind must have been much more than that to create this drastic change. The single bed was torn beyond recognition, the soft green duvet lay in pieces.

Ara looked through the wreckage looking for anything. The only thing she found was a faded green back pack that had been protected under the bed.

Ara picked the item up and started to slowly pick her way through the rest of the shattered room.

She stumbled clumsily over the uneven floorboards and tattered green rug. Her exit was barred by a large blue flower that snapped its petals together menacingly every time she tried to approach it.

Fear roared through her veins. A thorn covered root leapt at her and her fingers glowed green. Thick green poison shot from her fingers onto the plant, causing it to make a high pitch whine as it's body coalesced into a blue puddle of slime.

Shock raced through her body as she leapt over the puddle stumbling slightly as she  
landed, through the door, across the landing, to the top of the stairs.

She slowed at the steps remembering the times when, thanks to her clumsiness she had nearly fallen.

Her eyes briefly stopped on the broken remains of her parents' office. If they hadn't been at work, they would be as shattered as the roofs beams, she knew they weren't there though.

 

Of course they weren't there.

 

Ara's mind drifted slowly backwards in time, to what must have been only a couple of minutes earlier.

She had just been sitting there thinking about her drama homework and memorising her character's lines for the year production she was acting in. Her mother had walked into the room, her greying brown hair pulled into a strict bun.

She was by herself which was unusual. Ara's parents tended to stay very close to each other's side. Ara's mother looked at her father like he hung the stars in the sky just for her and her father was uncharacteristically kind and tolerant to her mum. It was like that had just enough room in their hearts for each other.

It was sweet but ara wish there was enough room for her. Her eldest brother Saul had left when she was little so she guessed there was no room for him either.

Ara's mother had walked towards Ara and sighed,  
"Arabella Antonia Lester! Must you waste your time on an arts subject. You are getting the highest score in your class but what's the point. It's an arts subject!"

Her mother had then sighed and closed her eyes briefly before looking at Ara.  
"AN ARTS SUBJECT!"  
Ara's mother's voice raised almost hysterically before it dropped down into normal speaking tone, though the under current of stress was still there.

Ara was worried about her mum, she seemed so tired and stressed recently. She hoped it was just a phase. She understood starting a new job was a big shock to the system.

There was also the important arms race with Germany and she knew that her mum's job was creating new different types of weaponry to try and get the upper hand. All that  
pressure must have been what made her mum this obsessed with her marks and  
subjects.

"Your brothers never wasted their time on arts subjects and look how far they have gotten already in their lives. Dante is following the noble science of chemistry. I am so proud of him."

Ara's mother now had a soft smile on her pale face which had been wrinkled with stress and not age, she then looked at Ara her eyes heavy with disappointment as she gazed upon her youngest child.

"Judas's followed another noble science, the noble science of social science. At least  
social science has the word science in the name.

I am a social scientist so it can't be that bad. Always remember that social science is a great and very important thing to have, something you couldn't master. Not even social science " she turned and looked at Ara her dark brown eyes now, filled with rage and  
disappointment.

Ara forced herself to remember that her mum was just worried about her. If the Cold War became a hot war with actual fighting, then the importance of the arts industry would go down, and Ara's mum just wanted her to have a secure future instead of the uncertainty that went with the arts.

"It's better than drama Arabella. Honestly drama! Haven't your father and I instilled in you a strong work ethic, the need to succeed?

Haven't we given you everything you needed to thrive. Have you truly not learnt anything from me, your father, Dante or Judas.

Sometimes I think you do this just to disappoint us. I want you to sit here and think about it till your father and I come back from work tomorrow morning. No leaving this room even to eat dinner, you can eat in the morning"

Ara's mother stood up and headed towards the door as she reached it she turned and looked at Ara and she said,  
"The sun will come out tomorrow, don't forget that no matter what happens'.  
Ara's mother was out the door and down the stairs. Leaving Ara staring forlornly at the door.

That last words that her mother said had shown Ara just how much her mother cared. Her mother like her father was an absolute workaholic but just for Ara she had taken a day off work.

A miracle in itself, and had taken her to see the musical Annie. That had given the musical a soft spot in Ara's heart.

 

Ara had wanted to go see Sweeney Todd. That musical had a whole song that was purely just puns. True those puns were about cooking people into pies, Ara still found it brilliant.

Atleast her mother had taken the time to see a play something Ara knew her mother despised but she had done it for Ara.

Ara had then been filled with sadness and pain. She swiftly paced around her room like a caged Panther in a zoo, for what felt like a few minutes to Ara, but when she looked at the clock on her wall she realised it had been half an hour.

Ara had then felt the need to be close to something. She had then walked to her beside table, tears still streaming down her cheeks and picked up the glass box containing her spider.

When she picked up her spider her tears seemed to react with the glass and an explosion that started from outside rushed through her room leading her to her strange  
transformation.

She tore her eyes away from the destroyed office and her mind from the painful thoughts. Ara made an executive decision and decided she would look for her brother Judas first.

With that thought she sprinted away into the heart of the crumbled town looking for her twin brothers, the rage and sadness inducing thoughts of her parents, already lost in the whirling thoughts that continually raced around in her brain.


	2. The twins

The sleepy town of Kulin had been completely changed. The small neatly trimmed trees were now massive sprawling monsters. The town well was split in two and instead of water a shining grey slime was slowly oozing its way towards the crumbling remains of the  
tavern.

A grey shadow darted out from the radiated remains of the building on the left side of the plaza. It leapt off the well and landed lightly on top of the tavern.

The shadow stilled as it heard a faint rustling coming from the alleyway beside the tavern Lane.  
"Who are you", the woman in the alleyway called.

"Even I don't know. The question you should ask is 'what am I? A frrrriend or foe?' ", The shadow replied.

"Well, what are you?", Replied the woman uncertainly.

"It depends on what you arrrrrre", the shadow replied cryptically.

"Well, I mean no harm and I honestly don't know what's going on."  
The woman was getting irritated and it showed in her strained tone.

The shadow asked urgently, "Have you mutated with an animal? "

"Yes, my pet spider", said the woman confused "how could she know?" she thought.

"Well then my dearrrrr. I am a frrrrriend, the name's Felin." Felin smiled, but because she was in the shadow, all Ara saw was a row of sharp canines.

"I'm Arabella Lester, but I prefer Ara"

"Ara, we must move. They are coming." He quickly moved down into the light for a second.

She kept moving quickly catching Ara's hand and dragging her up into the shadows on the top of the tavern.

Luckily Felin was strong, otherwise Ara would have slipped and fallen. Felin was worried about this girl, she definitely needed her help and she was more than happy to help this girl.

"Do you hear that Ara?" She was on alert, her grey ears swivelled around as if chasing someone.

She grabbed Ara's shoulders dragging her down behind the eve of the taverns roof, as two muscle bound people thundered into the town square from the road that lead from Tin Horse Highway.

One had metal wire wrapped around the knuckles on both hands and the other held a crude sword tightly in their hands.

"That cat thing was here, Sward" said the wire wrapped one. Her muddy brown eyes  
roving through the shadows suspiciously. "Her paw prints led into this square."

The other one, who looked more effeminate than the hulking form of the woman beside him, replied "it's okay Suze." He paused at her angry glare. "Sorry I mean Pahnch. We will get it now or later, it does not matter. We will get it and catch it according to Forin's plan."

Pahnch glared disapprovingly around the town square roughly brushing her short mud brown hair, out of her browny red eyes before grunting and running back down the road she had came up.

Sward huffed and toyed with the dyed pink strand of his shoulder length brown hair. "What's the point it's not like Forins even here, no he went and got him self blown up and gave us all the work. Typical." he shook his head before he quickly turned and followed her at a more sedate pace.

What was the point, finding the cat woman was like chasing shadows. A fool's errand but it was also a fool's errand to try and change su- Pahnch's mind when she had made it. So he cut his losses and said nothing and followed his wife.

  
"Who were they?" Ara asked Felin, shaking her head trying to get her very confused thoughts to straighten up.

"They arre verry bad people, Ara. What will you do now?". Felin quickly changed the  
subject, she knew more than she was letting on but didn't want to talk to Ara about it.

"I don't know" Ara said, her quickly moving thoughts now on a completely different subject. "My parents are so clever they would know what to do, though Dante is smart but in a  
irritating way, judas's smart to. They are both smarter than me though."

"Where are your parents by the way kitten" Felin asked quickly dismissing Ara's confusing rambling.

"Well they should be at their job at Reaper Industries but it's classified and I don't know where it is. It shouldn't be that hard I mean it's a building. All buildings are different so I guess it should be easy but knowing them they may have a fake shop at the front.

REAPER Industries may be a fake name, I don't know Felin. Whenever I asked they just brush me off and say it's classified. They told Dante, but they never trust me." Tears  
started to coalesced in Ara's sharp ruby eyes, only now the tears were a poisonous green colour.

"I have two friends who work there. Together we can work something out. Come then  
kitten, we should stick together" Felin stood up extending a grey paw like hand to Ara.

Felin was worried about this young scatterbrained girl she would probably be easily captured if she was found and Felin thought it would be best if Ara had someone to help her out.

Ara took her hand and Felin deftly leapt into the low lying branches of a nearby tree, and helped Ara up as well, as her balance wasn't half as good as Felin's.

She then headed upwards jumping from tree to tree as she went. Ara following awkwardly upwards after her, Ara's poor balance causing her to have to hold onto Felin's hand so she didn't topple onto the forest floor bellow.

Felin took this all in her stride and continued to help Ara without a word against her.

Just as the were moving through the trees, just outside of town Felin turned to Ara,  
"Quickly kitten! They are returning. There are two more people with them this time.  
Quickly!" Felin's deep purring tone was urgent and Ara could hear the stress in her soft purring voice.

Felin then suddenly stopped, clinging closely to the branch she was on. Confused Ara  
followed the older woman's lead.

She peered through the branches. Pahnch was there with Sward and ... her two older brothers Dante and Judas.

She knew Dante's dyed blonde hair and haughty stance anywhere and judas slicked back brown hair.

She went to call to them but Felin silenced her with a sharp look.

"Do you both swear to help us in our vendetta against the mutant freaks that stalk this  
forest." Pahnch strong voice easily carried to their hiding spot.

"I do" both brothers chanted back though Dante spoke with pride and Judas with false bravado, only somebody who knew him as well as his youngest sister would able to see that he was not completely into this pledge.

"Do you promise that you will capture any freak that you see according to the plan we were briefed about, no matter if they were once your friend or related to you."

Dante chanted "I do" strongly back. The pause was real this time but with an elbow to his ribs judas reluctantly chanted back, his voice was very soft however and Ara struggled to pick up what he was saying "I do".

Pahnch smiled, a cruel and terrifying thing with too many teeth and too much menace to be much comfort. "Do you refused to be swayed by pleas and useless pities."

"I do." Dante's response was strong and resolute while judas's was said with an inflection turning the powerful statement into a question.

"Do you?" she paused for breath before bellowing with all her might. "DO YOU GIVE YOUR LIFE FOR THE CAUSE, THAT WAS ENTRUSTED TO US?."

After that Judas was shaking too much and was unable to respond so his brother yelled out for both of them "WE DO!"

Pahnch was extremely pleased with this turn of events and with a grin she turned to the twin brothers and said "you are now new people recreated for the cause, Dante you are now Errow, Judas you are now Bau" she nodded to herself 'yes this would do nicely'.

Her browny red eyes had darkened to a deeper nastier shade as if red wine had been spilt in them.

Ara couldn't believe it, she once looked up to these men.

Ara felt her world start to crumble around her. Her vision started blurring and only when she went to touch her eyes she realised it was because of bitter pain filled tears that burned in her eyes.

Her hearted rate increased fluttering softly in her chest. The speed racing then slowing then racing again unsure about everything that was going on.

Her breath started rushing out of her and into her nose so rapidly she started to  
hyperventilate. Felin wrapped an arm around her Amber eyes worried though her face  
betrayed no emotion.

Ara knew that they would go a different way to her some day. She would miss dear sweet Judas but she felt no sadness at the loss of irritating Dante, Judas's twin.

Well actually she was lying. Even though Dante always knew the wrong thing to say and always had to have a conflicting view point.

Dante who would also always confuse her and would get quickly irritated at her and the way she would talk about two different topics at once.

Even though Dante was all of these things she still would miss him.

He was her sibling and even though his personality grated on her and whenever Dante started talking and his opinions irritated her and she felt like throwing him out of a window.

She would also remember he was her brother and she loved him for it and that was  
something even Dante himself couldn't take that away from her.

Judas was always so nice to her and even though he couldn't talk about two topics at once he would always tell her if she switched topics. He was so sweet and loving. He would  
always be there for her. He would just sit there and listen to her.

She could go on and talk about several topics at once and just sit there and listen. He was Ara's Rock.

He was not easily flustered or stressed and if she ever got stressed or panicked he would be there. He would tell her that "it's alright egret" he'd give her a moment to stop and breath.

He had a strange fascination with nicknames and the ways people respond to them. He would always call her by that, and never by her real name.

The names he called her were baby animals with the usual ones being cygnet, egret, or pup. It was odd but Ara honestly didn't mind.

He would be the one she ran to at night if she was lonely or had a terrifying nightmare. Not her tired overworked social science mother.

A mother who was so busy studying and mapping out trends in society to pay attention to how her children felt.

The mother who viewed humans as merely another statistic in her computer, another  
statistic to be plotted and written about, rather than the living breathing dynamic creatures that humans really are. Actually that was doing her poor mother a disservice.

Her mother was loving but work was very stressful for poor Antonia Lester. Ara realised that but she couldn't help herself being a little bit bitter and cynical to her dear mother or her cold and distant theoretical physicist father, who could only deal with numbers and  
statistics, not people.

To be completely honest Adam Lester terrified Ara. She knew she could never trust him. He was stern and very strong in his beliefs.

Once he had made up his mind about something it never changed no matter what. This irritated the living daylights out of Ara.

She loved learning things and whenever she learned about something, she would make sure she learnt about both sides. Her father however choose one side and would stick through that to the very end.

Though they had these flaws, Ara would always remember the few brief moments she had spent with her parents over her 18 years. The silly rhyme her mum told her, her adorable pet spider Wayne, who her dad had bought for her so she stopped feeling so lonely when ever Judas was away.

The silly 'would you rather' games she played with her family. Would you rather turn into a mammal or a bird. She had chosen a bird obviously she'd love to fly. If it wasn't a bird what would you be.

Another easy answer a spider. You'd be able to creep around and explore, you'd have an instant building material. You'd be able to easily defend yourself. You could scuttle around scaring everyone.

If you were a spider which one would you be. Ara had then almost said a tarantula, they were scary, big, furry and scuttled everywhere, they had large scary eyes, but they also had a quite weak poison and that wouldn't be that fun.

She had said instead the Sydney funnel web spider. The female was larger than the male but the male had a more potent toxin so both were equal in there own way.

Their mandibles were also so long they had to rear up onto their back legs so they could be able to bite their pray.

The venom was so strong they could make an adult male human very ill. Now that was a spider she would like to be, strong for her small size, able to defend herself even if it was without using lethal force.

They also looked awesome, Ara thought they were the Dark avenging super hero of the spider world. All sleek black carapaces, they even had their secret lair a web woven into a dark tunnel. Their web was all the gadgets they required.

They had lightning quick reflexes and like her favourite super heroes they worked alone. No stupid weak teenage side kick to be captured by the enemy to be used against her. A lone avenger, a shadowy knight tasked to the protection of her chosen domain.

The hero her town may not want but definitely deserved. That was what Ara wanted to be. A heaviness fell into Ara's chests as she realised that these people and games played with them would never occur again.

Judas was no longer the Judas she knew. All that was left was this Bau. Felin realising her distress, carefully took her hand and led her up higher into the warm embrace of the canopy away from the pain of her past.


	3. A chance meeting

Ara concentrated on the two branches in front of her. "Concentrate Ara" Felin reminded her. Ara nodded, she had done this before and she really needed a way to defend herself against Pahnch's group.

She took a deep breath before throwing all her energy and thought into her finger tips.

Nothing happened. Felin ever patient told her to "calm down, reset, then try again" Ara did as she said and this time when Ara threw her energy to her fingers a thick green sludge flew from her fingers eating into the branches till with a high pitch whistle the sludge fell down through the lower branches.

Ara felt something else and she latched onto this feeling. It was like an itching on the   
underside of her wrist. She concentrated on that itch and to her surprise a fine rope of web appeared, wrapping around the remainders of the branches.

"Well done kitten" Felin purred at Ara. "Come kitten we must eat". Felin turned and rapidly descended from the canopy to the jungle floor. Ara followed swiftly only stumbling slightly on the uneven surface after her.

The forest floor was much different from the quiet neighbourhood it used to be.

The asphalt roads were rent and torn apart. The surface was uneven and Ara was finding it extremely difficult trying to keep up with Felin.

Who moved with catlike agility and whenever Felin  seemed like she would over balance, Felin would use her long thin agile tail as a counter balance and she would straiten up and continue on.

"Wait I can't keep up!". Ara had enough, she had several grazes and bruises from where she had slipped and fallen on the uneven surface.

Felin stopped and waited for Ara to catch up with her. "It's weird, I need to trust you   
because if I don't I'll be caught by them. But I know absolutely nothing about you" Ara said when she caught up.

"My real name is Brianna Eri née Empirical and I am a theoretical physics lecturer. I'm also in a comedy band."

"A theoretical physicist in a comedy band, that's a funny mix."

"I know it's a crazy combination, and that's an interesting story."

"Oooo I love stories but wait didn't you say your name was Felin. Why do you have two names."

"Well we are hiding from those people and their looking for a Brianna but I'm not Brianna I'm Felin. So theoretically their no longer looking for me and if I'm not me then they aren't  looking for anyone," Felin explained. 

Ara was extremely confused but then she had never liked physics.

"I instantly regret my question. Go on I want to here your story. I love stories. My brother Judas made up the best stories, they were super duper interesting."

"Well in high school I didn't socialise very much. I was happy just studying and trying to do well in school. I got even worse in year 12. 

I only ever studied. I badly wanted to get a high ATAR so I could get into the course I wanted to do at uni. However there was this really annoying arts student.

His name was Dan Eri. He was always with the other arts kids he wasted his time on things that should only be a hobby. He didn't use the time he was given properly and doing this he squandered and wasted his talents."

Ara nodded listening to Felin.  
"My parents thought the same thing about arts subjects. I love drama but they refused to let me follow it.

They always just said 'you are so much smarter than that don't waste your time.' I don't have a mathematical or scientific brain. I was always told my brain was far to scrambled to be able to do any of the noble sciences."

Ara made finger quotes over the words 'noble sciences' showing her distain for it. "I was also too scrambled to even do any of those 'social sciences'. They though science was the only worthwhile thing to do.

And social science was better than an arts subject but it was only for the weak minded as they called them. I was too stupid to even do a fake science." Ara was almost in tears. All these things these people had said to her weighed on her heavily.

"That's what I thought back then I know it's different now kitten." Felin said, a warm look in her Amber eyes.

She stopped walking for a moment to stop and give Ara a hug wordlessly lending the young hybrid spider her support.

Ara sniffled softly wiping her tears away and smiled tearily and thanked Felin with a   
lopsided smile.

They released each other then they continued walking looking for anything to eat.

"Continuing my story kitten, I heard and saw this Dan but never met him.

The thing is that when I get stressed I play piano to get rid of some of this stress and the music teachers made it so there was this piano in the music rooms that anyone could play as long as they didn't break it.

I was in the music rooms playing this piano when I hear this voice join in with my piano playing. It startled me but I wasn't going to let some random ruin my time playing piano. I just continued playing and we ended up playing the whole song together.

However the person who was singing left before I could turn around. It became a tradition I would play piano at recess and this person would join and sing along with me if they knew the song.

I ended up leaving a second copy of the song behind me so they could sing it and they would leave song sheets behind which I would learn and we would play together but I never learnt who it was I played with. 

It was odd but it was the highlight of my day so I said nothing." Felin's voice had a   
nostalgic quality to it as she talked about this memorable experience she had.

"I wanted to know who this person was so once halfway through the song I turned around and there singing along to the tune was Qwint.

This person who I hated so completely because they wasted this talents was the amazing singer who would sing with me. It was an odd thing to find out to say the least. It was funny when he saw I had found out who he was.

He was more relieved than he was uncomfortable. He became one of the only friends I ever had. We never talked in front of people.

It wasn't because we were embarrassed of each other. No it was because we never saw the point in talking about it.

I didn't want him to get him in conflict with his artsy friends over being friends with a nerd like me and I had no one to tell." At the end of the sentence Felin ended sadly and Ara smiled at her warmly and after a few moments Felin continued.

"We continued on like that not talking to each other but still turning up to play and sing with each other. That was until term three had ended and it was time for mock exams.

It was the last time we would probably ever meet and randomly out of the blue Qwint said to me 'hey can I have your phone number, you know to keep in touch with each other.

It was super fun jamming with you and it would be A Major thing to me if it continued.' I thought it was extremely cute and funny that this really confident guy was so nervous   
asking this.

He was the only person I talked to so I didn't see the point in cutting ties with him and even though I wouldn't tell him this, it was extremely fun and I wouldn't miss it for anything in the world." Ara thought it was super sweet that this stoic woman would be so moved by this.  
"So did you meet up with each other?"

"Yeah we did, we met less during mock exams and WACE exams but still we kept in touch with each other. He thought it was hilarious sending me pictures of puns and many times he would send me a picture, then he'd send me several texts of puns that were associated with that picture.

It was funny, sweet and always made my day. After graduation we went our different ways. He started doing gigs for small groups it was hard for him but he still tried his hardest. I got a part time job and all my hard work payed off and I got a high ATAR of 97.

This made it so I got into my university course for physics. In that course there was one girl, her name was Carlotta.She was sweet but tough.

The majority of the boys in the course would hit on her, but Carlotta just ignored them and just focus on her work. I did what I always did and just focused on my work instead of   
socialising with people.

Carlotta thought this was better than being hit on constantly so she befriended me   
because I didn't and I was the only other girl.

We ended up studying together and we got to know each other better." Felin then paused and pointed over the road towards a large apple tree. "There's some apples there kitten, we can grab some and eat them while I finish my story. Ara nodded she wanted to hear the rest of Felin's story.

"I found out that Carlotta was a great singer and I decided to introduce her to Qwint, they started off awkwardly.  Qwint was always a flirty guy and this reminded Carlotta a bit too much of the other men who would always flirt with her. After meeting a few times she   
realised it was just the way Qwint was and ended finding it adorable after a while. He really was just like a puppy.

It was a few weeks later when Qwint ended up asking Carlotta out." Felin stopped for a moment she seemed to be trying to quell her internal laughter.

"Do you know what she said?" Felin paused for emphasis. "Won't your girlfriend mind" both me and Qwint were extremely confused and we looked at each other and talked to each other with ours eyes, after doing it we realised what she meant. 

It was really weird Qwint and I had clicked after we met and she thought that we were   
dating.

I didn't really think Qwint thought of me like that so I said no. We weren't dating so they started dating.

They dated for all of Lottie's, (Lottie was was Carlotta's nickname.) uni days. After Lottie and I graduated Lottie and Qwint split up. It was odd, I didn't ask about it because I thought it would be rude.

Lottie and Qwint remained really close friends. Lottie ended up telling me that they broke up because Qwint fell for someone else and she preferred to be single.

A few weeks after they had broken up Qwint approached me, it was very strange. The very strange thing was that he was extremely nervous and worried which he wasn't usually like around me.

He then asked me if I would like to see a movie. I said yes and didn't think about it as we would do this together a lot.

It wasn't into the middle of the movie till I started thinking about if it was meant to be a date. He had paid for my ticket which was odd but he told me not to worry about it so I didn't." Ara nodded along to what Felin was saying.

"But if was meant to be a date it would make sense." Ara added

"That's what I thought but I couldn't bring that up in the middle of the movie and he was my best mate.  What if I was reading to much into it?

He had dated Lottie so he might not even like me, I was so confused, I never had very good people skills and I had always looked to Qwint when I had to interact with people who were not family. Family also included Lottie. She is like the sister I never had.

I kept quiet about it because I didn't know what else to do about it . We met up to play   
music together.  We just sat and talked for hours with each other and generally enjoyed each other's company.

I didn't want this to end so I kept ignoring it and I never brought up the subject. Qwint is my first friend and I couldn't ruin it, so I tried my best not to."

Felin stopped at the bottom of the apple tree and dashed up the tree grabbing a couple apples before dropping down.

Ara used her web to try and lasso an apple and after several tries hit an apple knocking it down onto the ground. 

Felin caught the apple before it was crushed onto the ground. Ara smiled sadly at Felin, feeling sorry for her.  Felin lept upwards up the tree collecting a few more apples and handing them to Ara.

She pulled Ara up onto the tree. They sat down grabbed an apple before Felin restarted her story.

"Qwint is a great fun loving guy. He loves puns and is extremely charismatic, though his puns are extremely cheesy" Felin paused thinking of him.

"Do they grate on you Felin?"  Ara giggled madly, her breath coming in gasps, her   
shoulders shaking madly.

Ara loved puns with a burning passion of a thousand suns and Felin had to hold onto her arm to stop her from slipping off the branch she was sitting on.

Felin shook her head at Ara as she struggled to compose herself, her chest still heaving with laughter.

Felin watched as Ara composed herself still softly giggling under her breath. Felin realised the reason why she had felt so protective of this young girl.

Ara reminded Felin so much of a young Qwint. She had his love of puns but Felin also saw a bit of herself in her as well.

However life and bitterness had not yet caused her to close off all her emotions like Felin had and she hoped it now never would happen to this sweet giggly girl that sat next to her.

Ara looked at Felin, her red eyes bright and curious "come on Felin finish your story please"

"After roughly two months of this Carlotta storms up to us. We were both sitting on the couch just talking to each other in the house the three of us rented. When Lottie storms up to you, you immediately give her attention if you value your life.

She sat down on the lounge chair next to the couch and stared at us for several moments before she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I can't believe you two, I have had enough of you guys dancing  around each other.

She had then told us to talk about our feelings for each other. We both played dumb trying to disapprove her theory. In unison Qwint and I said "what do you mean Lottie we are just best friends."

She had then lovingly glared at us. 'You guys love each other, it's easy and plain to see. Just try going out, don't worry about it ruining your friendship there is only a 98% chance of your friendship will not being ruined. The statistics don't lie.'

She was determined so we decided there was no point fighting a stubborn Lottie so we went out with each other that was 16 years ago and we are still together, like all couples we have our ups and downs, but we are still an unbreakable pair." Felin finished. She smiled at a Ara she smiled back.

"Where is he now " Ara questioned quietly a part of her did not want to know the answer to this question.

"We were being chased by the Pahnch woman and got split up I don't know where he is now." Felin stated sadness in her deep Amber eyes.

"We will find him" Ara promised. Felin smiled and ruffled her hair.

"Of course we will kitten. let's go up to the top of the canopy. I don't like being this far down, I feel a little bit like we are being watched."

Ara nodded and Felin quickly ascended though the branches leading Ara all the way, not wanting her to fall.


	4. Something fishy

The sun was setting, its bright amber light glinting off the dark emerald of the trees' leaves. Ara knew that this was the most dangerous time for her to be down on the forest floor. 

Her knotted black hair showed off the light like jewellery sparkling inside a shop case.

It was also dangerous for Felin as the light blinded her light sensitive eyes, but they were thirsty, hungry and had to move quickly to find clean water.

They carefully picked their way through the branches of the trees when they saw a strange sight at the edge of a clear blue lake.

A tall young gorgeous woman with long blonde hair was silently sitting on the edge of the lake her eyes were closed peacefully, her blue bikini clad chest moved in deep regular patterns.

Water lapped gently at her stomach, her top of her body was covered in a blue bikini top spotted with white dots her delicate hands with perfectly shaped nails that were painted light blue, her right hand traced random patterns into the surface of the water and was leaning backwards on her left. Her legs were obscured by the water.

Felin moved deftly towards the pool her Amber eyes locked onto the strange woman the whole time, her bare feet didn't make a single sound on the soft sand leading to the waters edge.

As Felin reached the edge of the lake she quickly plunged a water bottle into the clear blue water then rapidly retreated to Ara's side.

"If your hungry there are a lot of fish in this lake" the woman suddenly said, her voice oddly clicking on the consonants.

"Thank you for the offer Miss but we really should leave, shouldn't we Felin?" Ara felt there was something off about this woman, her ability to know that Felin was there without   
opening her eyes.

Felin also had a bad feeling about this beautiful woman and she didn't trust her at all. Felin nodded agreeing with Ara and leapt up into the branches of the tree.

"Il go get you the fish if you wait" the blonde woman said before she dived into the water and instead of legs appearing on the top of the water as she dived a grey dolphin tail broke through the top of the water.

Felin and Ara waited uneasily in the branches of the trees for the blonde woman to   
reappear.

Several anxious minutes slowly ticked by, Ara's nervous tick reappeared and she started chewing on the skin surrounding her finger nails the blood dripping from the skin onto the sand, which didn't burn because of the silicon content.

Ara's brain quickly created several different ways that was happening to the lady, and what would happen to Felin and her because of this woman.

By the time the woman had reappeared Felin had became extremely paranoid and   
worried, her logical brain trying to think up logical reasons why this woman would be taking so long to get fish.

Ara had come to several conclusions the majority of them random an nonsensical. the major conclusions were that the blonde woman  was a deadly assassin from the future or she was an ant wearing a human suit, quietly hungering for revenge against all human kind that had always killed it's kin. 

Felin had less insane theories as her thoughts started spinning to impossible conclusion panick fully setting for her.

These theories included  that the blond, was an American spy who came to Australia to bring down the government, that she was a Chinese secret agent come to steal the REAPER Scientists weaponry, or an English secret agent who came to bring Western   
Australia into the commonwealth, was a spy from the Australian Eastern states who had come to blackmail the wa government to become part of Australia again instead of the sovereign nation it was. Even more dastardly she could be working with Pahnch or she was going to join them just to kill them in the end.

Finally the blonde woman reappeared This time she had another person with her a small Asian girl with dark black pits where she should have eyes, and short spiky black hair, she wore a plain soaking wet black one piece bathers.

She swam less elegantly than the blond woman and her fast energetic movements churned up the water around her arms and legs, the blonde woman movements only showed the barest of ripples.

The blonde woman swam to the edge of the water revealing that instead of legs she had a dolphin tail. "Food's here" the blonde woman called out softly.

Ara moved forward and scuttled close to the blondes companion before gingerly sitting on the dry sand near the edge of the lake.

Felin followed her at an even slower pace his eyes roving around looking for enemies. "The names Delphina by the way and this lovely lady next to me is Urchula."

Delphina said smiling at Ara and Felin. Urchula preened under Delphinus attention and lovingly patted Delphina on the arm.

"Im Ara and the paranoid old lady here is Felin, I have to say their is something fishy about this whole conversation" Ara replied, relieved to finally find someone who was not looking to kill her she let out her odd gasping soundless laughter as Felin shook her head at her, Delphina and Urchula shook there head.

Felin, Urchula and Delphina started eating the fish raw. Ara pressed her long sharp mandibles into the fish waiting for the enzymes she had injected into it to liquefy the   
insides before she drank them through the puncture wound she had made earlier on.

Everyone had finished when Felin heard a soft rustling behind him he spun around rapidly his enhanced eye sight zeroing on a man with milk chocolate hair, that completely covered his forehead and ears, he was swiftly setting up traps on the forest's edge.

Ara eyes looked to where Felin was looking and spotted the boy and called out softly   
"hello whose there".

The boy was startled by the noise, he started When he spotted them. Ara recognised him it was a friend from her school Andy he didn't recognise her but when he saw Delphina's tail, Felin's ears and Ara's mandibles he quickly dashed into the undergrowth of the trees, muttering under his breath about how angry Pahnch would be with him.

Ara looked at Felin they nodded to each other before turning to the other women and saying. "Sorry we have to go now, the Pahnch woman that boy was talking about is bad news, thank you for your hospitality and fish."

They turn to leave before Urchula called out "wait can we go with you, if you're running from Pahnch's crew it means you have a mutation. We do too and people like us should stick together. Safety in numbers and all that."

"Alright you can come with us just try and keep up" Felin replied quickly avoiding the strange boy's traps and dashing into the trees. Ara followed him at a quick pace stumbling over the ground nearly hitting several of Andy's traps before giving up and using her webs to grapple herself into the trees.

As Delphina went to stand up her tail split into a pair of legs, however the grey dolphin skin stayed, Urchula hurried after them, Delphina effortlessly followed them on her long shapely legs, she moved quickly after Felin and Ara not wanting to be left behind.


	5. Know your enemy

The mismatched group arrived at the top of the tallest tree. Felin had decided that the tops of trees were safer than setting up camp on the forest floor.

Pahnch was strong and muscular but that muscle made it hard for her to move quickly  around small spaces.

It was her incredible strength that was her downfall. Or that was Felin's theory they didn't want to test it.

Delphina and Urchula had protested into the night about it. Usrchula complaining that the rough bark and twigs would scratch delphinas flawless skin and would knot her glossy long locks.

Felin had quickly countered that fallen leaves would have matted into her hair and the rough torn up ground would have done worse than the bark and not only would it scratch her skin but it would bruise it as well.

A double loss in her mind.

Ara seeing the logic in Felin's logic and not urchula agreed with Felin. Delphina had no problem with either and let urchula argue for her.

Ara had then come to the only conclusion she could see, felin and her would sleep in the canopy while Delphina and Urchula would stay on the ground below.

That would please everyone. Delphina did not agree with Ara's solution and said that they shouldn't leave each other's presence.

Her and Urchula had become extremely agitated when Ara and Felin tried pushing that idea. Ara had then relented and Felin had said if they had to stay together then they would stay in the canopy.

With much grumbling and angry glances Urchula and Delphina finally agreed to set up the camp in the jungle canopy.

Ara sat at the top of the trees. They had managed to put together a sort of tree house that was hidden from the ground by the lower branches.

They were going to create multiple but for now one would have to do. It was one single room.

Felin had found blankets and sleeping bags which they had set up in different corners of the one room. Urchula had done some recon on Pahnch's group which they had labelled as the hunters.

There were five members at the moments.Suzy who was now called Pahnch her husband Sward whose actual name was not known, Ara's twin older brothers Dante and Judas now called Errow and Bau, and Ara's old friend brad (the boy who was setting the traps at the edge of the lake), they had found out he was now called Traps, a name Delphina had rolled her eyes at and Urchula had sarcastically stated as being "very creative".

Felin had decided that someone had to do a more in depth recon on the Hunters Ara and urchula had volunteered. Ara had lost her jumper the previous day Felin had given Ara hers. Ara and urchula slipped slowly downwards from there treetop base.

Ara stopped descending when she could see the ground through the branches of the trees. She held onto urchulas wrist to stop her descending. The then started moving  
quickly and silently forward staying the same height.

Ara's red eyes scanned the ground her eyes caught upon human boot prints. Ara pointed this out to urchula and they followed the prints from the safety of the tree branches. The prints led to the pond where Ara had first met Urchula and Delphina.

A sudden loud noise startled and she had to hold tightly onto the tree to stop herself from falling. Ara looked around there next to the pond was an extremely tall frizzy haired man fighting someone else.

"Look, there he's been caught in that device." Urchula explained pointing to the tall mans legs that were entangled in a mass of twigs and twine. Ara was about to shoot acid to free him when Urchula tapped her hand.

"You can't do that he is to far away and you might take his legs off if you miss, I can shoot razor sharp needles from my fingers but I would just miss, and alert them or hurt him so it's best to let him get captured and then go to everyone and get him released that way. Much safer."

Ara nodded she could see the wisdom in Urchulas approach so she nodded at her.  
Urchula turned to retreat but Ara was curious and wanted to know who this man was and knowing Felin if they went up to and said we saw a man caught in a trap fighting someone.

Felin would tell them it was yo dangerous and leave him to his fate. If she knew their name or something about them Felin would let them free him.

Ara grabbed Urchula's arm.

"We need to talk to him otherwise Felin will let him be captured," she whispered rapidly to Urchula.

Urchula paused for a moment looking in the direction of the mans captors looking for something she seemed to receive that and she turned back to Ara before speaking. "If one trap was here a bet there are a couple more il go set a couple of them off to grab the  
captors attention."

You go talk to him. But only talk if you release him we won't have enough time to escape ourselves."

"Ok if you are sure" Ara was uncertain with this part of urchulas plan but at her raised  
eyebrow and quiet "do you have a better plan."

Ara could not think of a plan in the time given, so she relented and went along with the plan.

Ara moved stealthily through the branches till she was almost above the trapped man. Ara then waited then she heard a snap of a trap going off.

Why would Urchula set off a trap so close by. Ara heard a small bell ring it was one of  
several that were attached to Traps belt that notified him when one of his traps were sprung.

Ara dropped down next to the trap which the tall frizzy haired man was trapped in. He looked up in alarm but Ara quickly raised her finger up to her lips hoping he would take the hint and stay quiet.

He did and instead just looked at her a puzzled look in his chocolate eyes. His gaze fell onto the jacket she was wearing. His eyes shot to her face in surprise he took a couple deep breaths in.

"You know Bri?" He said in shock

"Bri? I don't know a Bri." Ara was confused then it hit her, Felins old Name was Brianna Eri so it would make sense that her nickname was Bri. "I know Felin, she said her name used to be Brianna Eri."

The man eyes lit up and his face broke into a beaming smile."I'm Qwint Eri Brianna is my wife or I guess Felin as I know need to call her. Il come up with my own beastly name  
later" he grinned at his joke and Ara couldn't help but smile.

Qwint then tilted his head. "I can hear them approaching you better go before they capture you to send my love to Bri."

He then turned away from and started poking at the trap on his leg seeing if there was a way he could free himself. Ara shot her web into the low hanging tree benches and pulled herself up. She descended until she could almost not see the ground and stopped and laid still.

She watched Pahnch whack Qwint in the head traps free him and Sward carry him off Bau and Errow flanking him bows drawn.

Ara thought she saw someone else with them but she couldn't tell for certain because of the amount of branches between her and the ground.

She hoped she was seeing things because if the small group became any larger she knew it would then be child's play for them to find her group.


	6. As I remember

Ara jumped as a hand landed on her shoulder. She turned her head to see Urchulas smug face.

"Everything went according to plan I distracted them and you had a chat with Mr Doggy." She smirked her eyes however were emotionless dark pits and Ara had trouble breaking her gaze from them.

Urchula seeing her struggle turned her head allowing Ara to  break free.

Urchula started climbing upwards slowly Ara next to her.

"Your probably wondering what happened to my eyes, well they weren't always this way" Urchula explained it made sense to Ara as there was no way that the way her eyes that bubbled like crude oil striking the surface was in anyway natural.

The depths of hell was a more accurate description of the the two yawning pits in urchulas face, then eyes.

"Do you believe in the supernatural, do you think that there are greater beings then us? Two great players to run the world like some ethereal chess game." Urchula questioned her dark pit instead of eyes boring into Ara's sparkling Crimson eyes Ara shook her head.

her parents didn't believe in any greater beings or anything other then pure facts and   
science but Ara always had curiosity for everything and did not want to follow things just because she was told she had to.

"I used to be like you didn't think there was any greater beings to be honest I didn't care I had Del and I needed nothing else. Then Del was in an accident and she fell into a coma.

I was heartbroken she is a model so we both relied on her for an income. i felt like I failed her there was nothing I could do and Celeste Del's surgeon sister she could do a surgery to bring her back if I let her full freedom to do whatever she wanted with no liability.

I of course said no so I sat there at the dining room table despairing. Then a woman appeared out of thin air.

I could feel the raw power that rolled off this woman. She was incredible intimidating she was dressed like a queen in black silks and ruby velvets and tiara that was made out of what looked like miniture stars, was nestled among her riot of ebony curls.

She glided over to me and said 'I can make anything you want a reality all you have to give me is something purely yours.'  I told her I wanted Delphina as I remember her, beautiful and stunning .

The woman said she could do that but she would need something of the same value and she would require my eyes. I traded my eyes for the brilliance of Delphina without a thought.

I gave her my ablility of sight and would give anything even my soul if it was to benefit my darling Del. del was upset and paid to have implants put in my brain so I could still sense where everything is so.

I can still sort of see but it's more like the radar they put in ships.."  Urchula was lost in thought a dreamy smile was on her lips but no emotions were in the deep pits that used to be her eyes.

Ara couldn't understand giving such a major part of yourself for someone like that even if they were your best friend. Especially if that trade for a major part of you, was to some strange apparition that randomly appeared in your home.

They silently headed back to base Urchula reminiscing and Ara in shock at the lengths that the girl beside her would do for the blonde dolphin hybrid.

 

"Guys! guys!" Urchula yelled as she through herself up through the branches of the trees quickly and recklessly. Ara bounding beside her though she was quieter.

"Hush kitten before you fall or alert them of our position" Felin quickly warned her. "What's the problem."

"I was doing recon like you told us to do when we saw footprints. We followed it and we saw that hunter. Um. Whats his name.  Ah. Yes Traps, he had captured a man who they took away.  We need to save him."  Urchula continued passionately however this time she had lowered her voice so it wouldn't carry through the forests.

"I don't know kitten, any of you could get injured or hurt or..." Felin responded  
"We have to" Ara  interrupted "Urchula distracted the hunters while I talked to him and I said I was a part of your group. He recognised your jacket.  He said 'to tell Brianna that it's me Qwint. He said you were his wife'"

"Qwint, scar on his left cheek and untameable and messy brown hair" Felin questioned suddenly interested.

"Yes that's right does he know you Felin"

"Yes back before I was mutated we were in a band, Damned If I Know, together back then my name was Brianna.

We also had two others in our band Qwint's ex-girlfriend who sung the melodies and another man but I don't know where he is now. Qwint and I are, as he told you married. That's why they want me dead because I was in that band. The girl and the other man are reapers the hated scientists. If that's what happened to Qwint then he is in danger of loosing his life." Felin explained standing up.

"I think it's probably more because you to are both mutated with animals and the hunters hate people who they perceive as freaks. Remember we overheard my brothers initiation into that group." Ara said trying to stop Felins paranoid rambling and instead have her thing about the facts they had and not speculation.

"Then we have to go and save him.  Felin we have no choice." Delphina said rising gracefully from her reclined position on the ground to her feet. Urchula nodded happy that Delphina was following her advice.

The group quickly left to find Qwint . They needed a plan in order to save him.

Three hours later they had that plan.


	7. Rescue

They moved swiftly to Delphina's pond where she sat in the water at the edge and started humming loudly, she was bait, her hands and tail creating ripples in the water. As Urchula had said there was nothing more unresistable then Delphina, which had gotten her a pat on the head from Delphina which had made Urchulas day.

They had discovered that traps had left a trap that monitored the surface tension of the water so they could tell if the water had been entered by a person or if they were collecting water from it. 

Urchula stealthily followed the string from the trap towards the camp, Felin and Ara   
followed through the trees.

They ducked into the shadows as sward and Pahnch thundered past them towards the pond. Ara's group came to a stop at a large tree with canvas draped over the roots.   
Urchula shot several thin fragile black spines out of her pointer finger.

The spines left trails of air in their wake and the air revealed pits of sharpened sticks hidden underneath a blanket of leaves.

Ara, Felin and Urchula walked deftly between the pits though ara wobbled considerably more than the perfectly balanced cat hybrid and the small agile sea urchin hybrid.

Ara nearly fell into the pits so she decided she was giving up and ended up throwing web onto a low lying tree branch and pulling herself across.

Once everyone was across they clambered over the top of the canvas to find that the trees maze of roots had been turned into the hunters base.

They ended up just walking across the top of the tree roots instead of heading into the maze like roots of the trees.

They crossed over a few roots till they were at the back of the tree and trapped in a rough wooden cage was a man with wild frizzy curls that had two brown dog ears breaking through the top.

He had an old scar on his left cheek and had a recent black eye. Ara smiled as she   
recognised him but was upset at the injury he had obtained in her absence. His playful brown eyes lit up when he saw them.

He called lowly towards them  
"guys I'm in a ruff situation"

Felin quickly ran along the roots   
towards him, moving quickly her long thin tail helping her keep balance.

She reached Qwint and using her sharp retractable claws, Felin cut the rope holding the cage together.

Qwint grinned as he was freed his brown eyes bright, dark brown tail wagging madly behind him, he threw himself into Felins arms and clung to her.   
"Bri after we split up when they were following us they got the drop on me and I was caught. I knew you'd find and save me. I was had a strong feeling you would come if a waited ."

"Come on Qwint we have to go before they come back." Felin quietly urged Qwint.   
"We can't yet we still have to save Bella" Qwint said stubbornly. "Any way you can't keep calling me Qwint it doesn't fit, how about Howlard."

Felin rolled his eyes at Howlard and deftly moved around the bottom of the tree to reach a second rough wooden cage that held a young girl roughly Ara's age with brown hair tied up in a pony tail, bright green eyes, monarch butterfly wings fluttering gently behind her.

She moved to the back of the cage allowing Felin to free her. Howlard's sharp hearing heard Pahnch and Swards heavy foot steps as they returned.

"We have to go now" he barked softly catching everyone's attention.

Bella reached out wrapping her arms around urchula thin waist, bella's wings lifting them of the ground and they moved quickly away from the hunters base.

Felin deftly flipped over the traps on the ground and dashed into the trees on the other side of the clearing.

Ara shook her head in annoyance when she realised she had to make sure that Howlard made it to safety, for he was to tall for bella to carry and not Flexible enough to flip across the pit.

Ara shot web out of her wrist to the lower branches of the tree across the gap. She held onto him tightly before pulling the web back into her wrist causing them to be propelled through the air over the traps into the trees.

She let go of Howlard and watched as Pahnch appeared around the tree carrying an   
unconscious Delphina in her arms with Delphinas head lolling on her shoulder. Pahnch seemed to be muttering something rapidly under her breath.

Ara quickly ducked under a branch loosing sight of them for a a second on her way to a better vantage point. She then shot acid near Pahnch's left foot causing Pahnch to loosen her grip on Delphina.

Ara shot web around a branch then around onto Delphina using her body as a   
counterbalance pulling Delphina rapidly towards her before Pahnch could think.

Ara tied Delphina to her body with web before using more web to rapidly ascend into the canopy away from Pahnch who had launched herself in their direction with a gruff   
wordless yell of rage.  Ara quickly lost Pahnch before hurrying back to base.


	8. Respite

Ara knows she should have searched for her parents by now.   
However Ara was a naturally nervous person and didn't know where to start. 

Her first goal had been to find her brothers which she now knew had done a worse thing than abandon her they had gone to a side that actively hunted and tried to kill her.

Her siblings the two which were always there. it hurt ara to know that she could never have a comforting chat with Judas or verbally spar with Dante. Her parents could be dead, dying or trying to find her.

If only Ara's parents had told her where their research laboratory was, she would be able to find them.

Ara really missed her parents .  
Mums warm hugs and love, not the brightest person but always trying her best in everything she did. Putting a hundred percent into everything ara hoped she could be like her mum in that way.

listening to dad talk about all the amazing and  
interesting things he knew, his high pitched clicking laugh that would make delphina   
jealous. His expressive face and mischievous dark eyes

She remembered her mum teaching her a funny ryhme that they would always do together. Scuttle forward like a spider, leap right like a cat , dive down like a dolphin, bob down and hold still like sea urchin, run around in a circle trying to catch your tail like a dog, flutter like a butterfly and walk like a human.

Dad at first would play the game with her but over time he started to tell her to forget the stupid game and concentrate on more important things but Ara would never forget it, as it was a special part of her child hood.

She wish she knew where they worked, Unfortunately it was classified so ara didn't know where reaper industries was actually located. Howlard's infectious giggle brought her out of her dark thoughts he was grinning at Felin who just glared darkly at him though ara could see the slight glimmer of amusement in her Amber eyes.

Howlard turned to ara with a grin and ara allowed herself to be pulled into the conversation and the bubble of happiness Howlard was always surrounded in it like a hyperactive pug   
running around covered in a blanket. Ara knew she was so lucky to have found this group.

Ara sat next to a dizzy Delphina. She had a slight concussion as Pahnch had slammed her fist onto the top of her head knocking her out.

"What are we going to do now" urchula asked sharp black eyes watching Delphina intently.

"Howlard, didn't Knofmar work at reaper industries?" Felin questioned as she turned to Howlard

"Yes, Lottie  did as well" the happiness that always clung to Howlard dimmed as he thought about lottie fierce personality her scheming intelligence and charismatic charm.

"Whose Lottie " Bella questioned.

"Howlard and i's best friend she's like a sister to us, a small but fierce woman. Her real name was Carlotta but she hated it so everyone called her lottie." Felin replied seeing Howlard's mood

"But she only let you call her that any one else would be verbally mauled by her she's a very fierce woman." Felin broke in talking over the top of Howlard.

" any way Even though they work there, I don't know how to get there why did you ask?" Howlard replied trying to pull himself towards happier thoughts.

"Well they did get a new sponsor to restart their project on souls and now this occurs. It is highly unlikely that it is a coincidence." Felin purred

"But no one knows how to get in there" Howlard growled

"A.a.Actually I d.d.do" bella broke in

"That's impossible" Ara said "even my mum and dad wouldn't tell my siblings or me how to get there"

"My f.f.friend megan she recently got a j.j.job there. she t.t.told me before she was told that it was c.c.c.classified." Bella affirmed

"Well we all have people we know there, so it's our next stop" Urchula piped up.

"We can't go yet Delphina needs rest." Ara suddenly rebuffed

"Il be fine"

"No you need to rest, you will put everyone else in trouble"

Alright il rest."

Ara decided that they needed to eat and get some water for Delphina before they left.   
Felin agree with her, as they didn't know how long it would take to get to the REAPER building and Delphina kept complaining so Felin thought it best to rest.

Urchula refused to leave delphina's side and even though Felin told Ara she would go with her Ara could tell that the cat hybrid wanted to keep howlard within her eye site .

However Ara didn't want to go alone so she decided to bring Bella along with her.


	9. Knockout

Ara was now used to moving through the canopy and she did with learned ease. Bella wasn't however and had no confidence.

Ara slowed down and did what Felin had done when she was first learning. Felin Holding tightly onto Ara's wrist while she followed the cat hybrids exact movements.

This was harder with Bella because one Bella had wings, big ungainly things that caught the wind causing her to wobble wildly.

Two She had no confidence and three Ara had had enough trouble keeping her own  
balance without having to help someone else.

Ara didn't want to walk on the ground as she felt very vulnerable so they moved along the lowest branches.

High enough that someone would have to jump to reach them but low enough that if they did fall they would not get injured to badly.

They found a row of abandoned houses, Bella headed towards the closest building and ran a critical eye over it.

"In hhere Ara." Bella stuttered  before heading towards the entrance.

"Are you sure that it is safe to go in there" though Ara could see nothing wrong with the building for all she knew it could not be structurally sound

"It's safe I used to be an architect and I would have to look at bbbuildings and see if they are safe. It should hhhold " Bella explained

"Luckily we arn't staying here and are just moving through" Ara responded. Bella nodded and entered the house.

The house was filled with dust and dirt. Plaster from the wall covered every surface and as they walked across the tiled floors the powder danced around their ankles.

They looked around the family room across the island bench into the kitchen. Bella moved quickly into the kitchen and started going through the cupboards looking for the pantry. She was lucky and found it on her first try.

She grabbed the canned food and started making a pile on the bench. As she was doing this Ara was going through the glass cabinet on the right hand side of the dining room   facing the kitchen.

There wasn't much Ara could salvage it was mostly shards of broken glass and porcelain. The things that were not shattered were still to fragile to pick up.

There were tea cups made of China with finely painted pictures covering the sides, tiny life like brown owls and another cups with little clocks which had a matching saucer and plate.

Ara threw her bag to Bella and left the room up the stairs into a long corridor she reached a room which looked like the master bedroom. The walls were full of picture frames. A smiling brunette stood next to.

Ara paused it was her eldest brother not Dante her other. Her very eldest brother. Saul had left before she was born. She did not know why, her brothers and parents refused to talk about him.

"He missed you." A sudden unknown voice suddenly said Ara spun around acid flying from her fingers. A subconscious defense.

The a dyed blonde hair woman from the photo was standing behind Ara, the woman blinked out of existence her hand flying up to her neck to hold her strange owl pendant. The woman reappeared when the acid hit the back wall. She smiled.

"I am Trixie. I married Saul" Trixie explained.

"What happened to him. He left before I was born." Ara was extremely curious to learn about her missing sibling.

"Your parents said they would give him a job working for the newly made REAPERS   
Initiative if he would not be a part of your life. He was struggling to find a job so he couldn't say no." Trixie explained, however her iridescent  green eyes were guarded and she kept darting from Ara's red eyes to check the little  pink butterfly watch on her left wrist.

"That can't be true he left two years before I was born. That makes absolutely no sense."

"It definetly happened that way, I know I was there"

"Why were you there" Ara questioned, something about this woman did not seem right to her. This tall flighty lady covered in watches reminded Ara of something but she couldn't put her finger on what it was.

"I was Saul's partner and I was a part of his future." Trixies eyes moved from Ara's face to the bow shaped watch and looked agitated as if she was waiting for something. That was it.

She remembered a woman just like this, who was covered in Watches and always   
impatiently waiting for some unknown event.

Ara remembered this woman and her strange mannerisms, she had came to her parents house after the REAPER Initiative was shut down after it was leaked that they were doing research on human souls.

Ara had met her at the door and the blonde had told her that she was thinking in investing in her parents science.

A strange occurence in itself because when ever someone usually talked about her   
parents science it was with hatred, fear, scorn or sometimes all three. Ara remembered the woman's weird watches and how when she left the room a small red spider watched had started beeping.

Ara looked over Trixies arm and there on the middle of her right forearm beside a grey cat and a brown dog was the red spider watch.

When she came to the conclusion the red spider watch started beeping and Trixie quickly grabbed onto her owl pendant and vanished without a trace, a small smile on the corner of her pink lipstick stained lips.

What the hell was that Ara thought when she heard a crash from down stairs. She quickly ran to the banister and there was Pahnch holding roughly onto Bella.

"You escaped once flutters but never again. Bau I bet she didn't come alone go upstairs to check for any other of her freaky friends" Pahnch growled to Jud... No Bau. He headed up the stairs.

Ara's mind was rapidly dashing through several different possibilities, outcomes and plans. she didn't know what to do so she did what she was best at she acted.

She dashed back into the bedroom and grabbed one of Trixies numerous scarves and draped over them her mouth hiding her spider mandibles and pulled another over her head and tucked her ebony locks in hiding them completely.

A shawl was rapidly pulled over her body hiding her body shape and her backpack which would have quickly identified her was rapidly shoved under the queen sized bed.

Ara grabbed sunglasses hiding her distinctive eyes and remembering her drama training she softened the harsh lines of her body. She made her body posture defensive and scared and sped up her breathing which would in turn make her look more scared.

She crouched beside the bed a terrible hiding place that would show that she was just a civilian and not an enemy or that's what Ara hoped at least.

Bau opened the door his bow drawn an arrow notched. He spotted Ara and called out to her "who are you"

"I'm Aries I was looking for supplies when I saw a woman with wings. It startled me and I ran up here, yy.your not with her are you" Ara easily remembered her teachers   
instructions. She pitched her voice higher and stuttered over the words as if she was   
terrified.

"I'm Bau, I need to take you to my leader Pahnch." He spoke it robotically as if reading it of a piece of paper.

"Iiiis she near that winged woman?" Ara kept the fear up and hoped that she would get to him

"Yes"

"Sorry I can't go down" Ara through this last ditch effort. If this didn't work then she would have to make something up.

"I'm sorry you have to, you don't really have a choice. Sorry Aries."

What could she do she was starting to really panick now. She had an idea.

"Alright il go with you as long as you don't let me near the woman with wings." Ara knew Pahnch's type.

She would make life difficult for her, if she said she was terrified of Bella she would put her right next to her. What a boring character no depth to her. Hah her parents said that drama would never help her.

Ara followed slowly behind Bau she quickly stuck her clothes to her using her web but made it so it was invisible the way the drama teacher had shown her how to do hidden stitches.

She reached the kitchen and stood there stooped slightly so she appeared scared and smaller. Pahnch glare at her, her maroon eyes tight and angry.

"What is this scarved creature. Bau report."

"This is Aries I found her cowering upstairs she was searching for supplies when she saw Bella and escaped upstairs away from her. She requested to be away from the butterfly woman."

"Request denied. Aries stand next to flutters." Pahnch snarled out.

Ara hesitated before Pahnch growled out "make it snappy this ain't a democracy."

Ara rushed to stand close to Bella but made is visible in her posture that she was not   
happy but was to scared to say it outright.

Pahnch was appeased and called Bau to her. Ara instantly whispered .  
" I'm going to ask to get my backpack. When I go upstairs they probably make you come with me to make me more uncomfortable.

When we are up there show me the weak parts of the house il shoot acid there and destroy the house. " Ara rapidly whispered her mouth only audible to Bella her lips obscured by the silk scarf covering them. Bella nodded her head moving barely up and down.

Pahnch turned back towards them "we are leaving now scum we are taking you home.

"Excuse me Ma' am but I left my bag of supplies upstairs can I go collect them before we go."

"Yeah you can go but take your 'friend' with you".

Ara opened her mouth to fake argue but Pahnch's glare and response of "take her or don't go at all" made her go upstairs trying to hide her victory.   
They started walking up the stairs when Pahnch called after them that "Bau was going with them". Ara tried not to panick that was not part of her plan but she would just have to handle it.

Ara continued at the same pace and went into the bedroom. Bella hid behind the door and as Bau entered she through all her body weight onto him.

In his shock he let go off the arrow in his bow which cut through the scarves covering her face and just missed grazing her face. The scarves fell forward revealing her spider mandibles.

"Another beast" Bau gasped out reaching for another arrow in his quiver.

"No not just another beast, I'm your sister" Ara said quietly her red eyes warm and loving.

"Your alive egret and it worked you and your spider merged. It worked, I can hardly believe it." Bau was shocked and in his shock her childhood nickname accidentally slipped out.

"My spider had a name, which was Wayne." The perfect name for a dark avenging super hero looking spider. Just because Wayne was female didn't matter to Ara, it still was an absolutely perfect name for her.

" it's is you egret" of course he remembered the name and the spider. The spider was the whole catalyst to this crazy situation in which, he was on the opposite side to his little sis. He suddenly made a snap decision, just because these things were decided before her birth didn't mean they had to stay this way.

"Egret don't look for REAPER Industries it will be your groups downfall." Judas said his eyes full off fire and purpose.

Ara just stared at him blankely why should she start trusting him now, he had definetly lost all her trust. Her sudden loss of him at the start of all of this madness and his pledge to Pahnch and her murderous cause, had her pause momentarily.

In that small break an arrow whistled through the window striking the wall behind them.

"Pahnch is getting antsy we better go." Judas now bad again he started for the door just as Bella slipped in.

"There has been a slight chchchange of plans" Bella rushed speedily forward her rapidly fluttering wings causing her to blast Bau over. Ara grabbed her backpack and the two of them rushed out of the room to where Bella had found the main supporting walls in the house.

Ara threw acid at them and kicked at them just in case, as the house made an ominous noise. They jumped out the window and Bella grabbed Ara and the flew upwards away from the derelict house.

They watch it crumble to Rubble. Ara watched it sadly as she was worried about Judas but she couldn't dwell on that he had already made his choice and he had decided not to be on her side. That definetly was not her fault..

Ara and Bella swept careful eyes over the remains of the house.   
"There's still walls and a small bit of roof remaining there is aaaa chance they could have survived.

"I have seen horror movies and I know tropes very well, they could come back. The ground has to be burned and salted to make sure no evil still lurks." Ara said worried. Bella softly giggled.

"I think salting the ground is only for daemons but we do not want her to continue to search for us so il do an aerial search while you walk around the eeedge Oooof the   
building.

"Sounds good"

They split up bella watching from above and Ara from below. Ara watched the rubble move and crouched down into the grass it was Pahnch she was bleeding from a wound on her head and was snarling under her breath.

"Forget what we are supposed to do I'm going to go and rip that butterfly and spider girl to pieces."

Ara knew that bella and her would not have enough time to escape with Pahnch on the war path so she through her web at a procarious peace of rubble pulling it onto Pahnch's head.

"Ara run." Bella suddenly yelled from above Ara looked to her left and saw her brothers with bows drawn.

Ara used her to web to grapple onto bella and they quickly escaped. Bella flying and Ara shooting small jets of acid at the flying arrows.

They wouldn't be safe here anymore they had to go to the reapers base and now.

They collected there group and left there base as the sun went down.


	10. Journey to the lab

Finding Reaper Industries was harder than they first expected it to be, the nicely laid streets were now underneath roots or had been crushed by the tree trunks.

To find the way the group had to walk on the ground something they tried not to do as the hunters were more suited to the ground then they were. Bella moved quickly along the cracked road trying to recognise shattered land marks.

  
Whenever Ara asked how far, Bella would start freaking out under the stress. Ara was no help and would have been lost if it wasn't for the others, Delphina strutted along as though she was walking along a cat walk her body moving gracefully along.

Urchula bounced next to her Ara couldn't tell if it was because of excitement, nervousness, anticipation or something else.

Felin walked lightly but with purpose next to an excitable Howlard who as they were   
walking along was cracking horrible jokes that only ara laughed at as she was the only one who liked his horrible puns. He loved the fact he had someone who would listen to his and enjoy his jokes.

"Hey Ara I've got a good joke for this situation."Howlard yapped happily at ara. "A man walks into a bar with a chunk of asphalt under his arm, he goes up to the bartender and saids 'a drink for me and one for the road" Howlard howled with laughter and Ara started soundlessly laughing her body shaking with humour.

Felin glared at the laughing duo but her sharp Amber eyes held more warmth than anger. "Kittens I have an even better joke" Felin purred to them the question obviously loaded and no matter what was said things weren't going to turn out in their favour, she kept turning to them her clever Amber eyes bright and dangerous.

"What's that" ara questioned her words coming out giggly and ghaspy.

"Two giggling fools walked into a bar" felin said her eyes seemed to glow, filled with mischievous glee as she raised her paw that was holding a metal bar. Howlard and ara were to slow so they walked into the bar and fell over.

Ara pouted at Felin from her spot on the ground and Howlard just grinned having made his stoic wife make a joke even though it was at his expense.

Urchula flounced over to them and helped ara up with an eye roll exclaiming "I can't believe you fell for that, ".

She turned away from them heading back towards Delphina where ara was pretty sure ara heard her say "what an idiot del why us." Delphina shrugged her beautiful shoulders raising and lowering delicately.

Her golden curtain of hair flowing flawlessly over her shoulders.  The group then continued on with Howlard and Ara cracking an odd joke.

This went on for a couple hours and just ara was about to call for a rest after she had fallen over for what felt like the hundredth time.  bella called back to them "I.i.i. Think found it, I.i.im not sure" she led them to a tall electrified fence that ara threw acid at, dissolving a hole that even the 6 foot tall willowy Delphina could fit through though she had to duck her head of fine golden hair to do so.

The group went to go through the fence when Ara something sharp and needle like slice into the skin of her upper arm. She looked at it and to her shock she saw a fine needle protruding from her arm.

Exhaustion suddenly swept through her and she fell to the ground and was quickly joined by the rest off the group as her vision blacked out.


	11. The Rose's

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning this chapter has a violent and gory fight. If your squeamish please skip to the end of the chapter where there is a breif summary of the chapter without the violent imagery.

Ara slowly awoke her brain slowly switched on as she realised she had been drugged somehow. She looked around the Inclosure she was now trapped in.

She was lying on dirt combined with leaf litter and sticks the thick wood off a tree trunk was on her left and right, above and below her.

The front off her small prison was thick branches buried into the ground and stabbed into the top of the tree. It seemed impossible to get out of.

Ara was distracted by movement beside her. She wasn't alone. A young girl lay next to a man who was probably her father by their identical looks and the age difference, on the girls other side was a tall pale man,  Delphina lay there too perfect and flawless even in her bedraggled state.

"Hello I'm Ara" Ara quietly whispered to the others as she was at a loss for what she was supposed to be doing.

The girl pulled herself into a sitting position shaking the man awake. "Hi Ara I'm Annie Rose, well Annalisa but I prefer Annie and this my dad  
Edward Rose, "she said gesturing to the man that looked like her "and this is my papa Sam Rose." She said gesturing to the tall pale man who had the brightest blue eyes Ara had ever seen.  Annie spoke with a soft American accent.

Everyone paused at the sound of heavy footsteps. Sward appeared at the door eyes red rimmed with tears and hand on his sword.

"I didn't really believe Pahnch when she said you freaks were dangerous and should be contained, we were given our orders to push you from afar kill anyone who tried to meddle but Pahnch thought we should catch you all and ship you by armed guard straight to Forin. Less mistakes that way. You know what forget our orders... you.... You beasts killed my wife and you will pay for that." His dull brown eyes were alight with grief and a righteous anger that seemed to consume him completely.

He reached for his sword and swung it at the branches that barred the way slicing them cleanly in half. Delphina stepped forward and looked deeply into his brown eyes with her softly shimmering blue eyes.

She started softly crooning to him sweet nonsensical words. She seemed to exude a strange hypnotic power and swards eyes seemed to glaze over as she hypnotised him.

She lead him into the cell, whispering sweet nothings to him her lovely voice luring him into a false sense of security, an irresistible sirens song. He followed her willingly his mind empty and malleable as dough.

She lured him into the cage  and to the side so the others could escape which they did, leaping over the broken stems and racing down the corridor the way he had come.

They reached a fork in the corridors where a root dove into the earth.  
"maybe we should split up dad and I going down one path and you going down the other" Annie asked.

"I don't think we should in most horror games when you split up you end up being killed one by one." Edward rebuked his daughter his accent the same as hers. They paused judging the identical  
looking pathways.

"Eni meeny miny moh which path way should we go, little Ara said count to ten. One" she counted up to ten at each words her finger going one tunnel to the other starting at the right hand tunnel and finishing at the left tunnel.

"Ok let's go" Ara said starting to run towards the left hand tunnel.

"We're really going with a ryhm" Annie questioned eyebrows raising higher on her head i, her tone however was playful which got rid of the harshness of her question.

"Yup" was Howlards quick answer before he bounded down the passageway his ears  
flopping around wildly, Ara bounced beside him.

Annie shared an exasperated look with her fathers before they hurried after the duo.

"Do you think Felin is alright" Ara asked Howlard, worried about the older woman.

"She'l be fine pup, she's tough and able to look after herself." Howlard said to reassure himself as much as Ara.

"Who is this Felin woman your'e talking about" Edward questioned.

"She's my wife.

"You must be worried her, I haven't had the best run in romantic  
relationships till I married Sam." Said Edward

"Yeah, the woman before him may have given birth to me but she's no mother." Replied Annie

"I would be heartbroken if anything happened to my daughter or  
Edward." Said Sam he spoke with a strong Irish accent

"Family, they are only a weakness. They are merely a resource, a dangerous untrustworthy resource at that." A smug voice cut through the silence.  
A voice that Ara immediately Recognised . She spun around to be face to face with the last person she wanted to see.

Leaning on the wall behind them was Dante Lester or as he was now known Errow.  
An arrow was was held in his left hand and his bow was in his right.

"Sometimes the family" starts Annie

"you have chosen" continues sam

"Is better than the family that you had." Edward finished

He smirked. "Looks like someone's lost well we were only told to preserve you six so sorry Rose's times up. He pulled his bow up and fired an arrow at Annie who was caught by surprise and collapsed to the ground.

The arrow lodged in her chest. She coughed harshly red blood foamed around her lips. Her body seemed instantly turn gray.

Edward rapidly crouched down next to her holding her close before another arrow whistled past where Edward used to be, however this time it was from the other end of the tunnel, it was Judas Lester or Bau.

He had a new scar from where the rubble from the house had fallen on him. He seemed quietly detached from everything that was going on and quickly pulled another arrow.  
Before notching it in his bow.

Errow fired another arrow at Annie, this time it hit her on the right side of her neck hitting the artery.

Edward glared before he was hit in the lower abdomen with an arrow, his skin rapidly loose colour, the head of the arrow protruded from his stomach showing whoever had hit him was behind him meaning that it must have been Bau.

Edward collapsed next to his daughter their blood pooling around each other.

Sam was left alone next to his family he held each of their hands

  
Seeing Errow notching another arrow Ara closed her eyes and threw acid at her brother she covered her ears trying to ignore the horrible screams as he was chemically burned by her poison.

There was a sudden loud yell behind them and Ara whirled around to see Bau falling to the ground . There was one major change to him and that was the fact the there was only empty space here his Adam's apple used to be.

Felin stood next to him claws and fingers covered in his blood the look on her face was feral before it morphed into shock as she realised what she had done.

Behind Felin was Urchula, bella and Delphina. Ara sunk to the floor in shock. She was the last member of her family.

She started shaking violently, sitting in the blood of Annie and  
Edward, her twin brothers were lying dead on opposite ends of the hallway.

What was she doing. What was she doing.

Suddenly the bodies beside her began to shine, Edwards was bathed in an bright red glow, Sam in a electric blue glow, Annie's in a hot pink one. The glow highlighted the fact that there skin, hair and clothes had gone monochromatic. The colour was just outlinin them.

Sam's body was jittery and the only part of him not moving was his hands that held tightly to Edward and Annie's hands.

The mortal injurys on his body glowed mint green Annie's a royal  
purple.

Sam was giggling under his breath and deep several slash marks appeared and disappeared of his body in erratic flashes

All three their bodies started to pixelate, the image of them seemed to tear apart then with an electronic screech there bodies vanished leaving behind a pool of blood, and Sam's echoing giggles.

Ara turned green moved away from where the bodies used to be and emptied her stomach.

What had she done..

A shocked scream broke through her spiralling thoughts. Traps stood there looking his 18 years. He was terrified. He saw the melted corpse of Errow, Ara sitting on the ground  
covered in blood, and Felin with her blood covered claws and teeth standing above Baus corpse.

Traps turned on his heels yelling at the tops of his lungs "Pahnch was right those beasts are not to be trusted.

Bella walked over to the shocked Ara and pulled her up into a hug.

"You didn't have a choice come on let's go." The shocked group stood up and left the maze of roots to find they were at the fence to the REAPER Building.

"What happened to Sward Delphina." Ara questioned.

"He won't be threatening anyone again." Was Delphina's simple answer, as she spoke she casually flexed her fingers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ara's group is confronted by sward and Judas and Dante.
> 
> Sward Judas Dante and three bystanders Annie, Sam and Edward are killed.


	12. The facility

Ara took a deep breath and walked through the fence.

The group moved swiftly across the large expanse of concrete to the lone grey building at the middle of the ground.

Above the crumpled thick metal door was a working camera, the door had no visible   
openings but had a pin code and a card swiper. "How are we going to open it" Felin questioned. No one had an answer.

Delphina used her left hand to flip her golden hair. The setting sun lighting up the golden strands like Christmas lights on a mansion. Urchula leaned against the wall her foot bouncing up and down, even in rest Urchula still was bursting with energy.

Her hands tapping a rhythm on the wall behind her. Felin was about to ask Ara to try her acid when the metal doors suddenly opened with a whoosh letting the group into the   
building. Felin whent first into the building as she had better dark vision.

They were in a dark foyer the only movement was a broken light blinking off and on at   
random intervals, all  the light sockets looked like they had been blasted of and the glass and led pieces littered the ground, the polished concrete floors were filled with   
hairline cracks.

They stood at the door which was raised above the main floor on the other side of the cavernous room was what look like the remains of a metal desk. On the remaining floor shadows was stretched across the floor that was bleached white.

The shadows were the colour the ground used to be and were shaped like a human silhouette. Ara hoped it was her imagination that made the shapes look like a person, the same way you saw shapes in cloudes but she had a feeling that, that wasn't it.

She hoped this cold chill running down her spine was just the fact she was standing in the doorway and not any supernatural reasons. 

The shadows were leading away from the huge gaping doorway that lead deeper into the doomed darkened facility. The main light was from the sparking electrical outlets, the door to the outside and the blinking red lights from the remaining working cameras.

Felin's moved swiftly onto the ground almost jumping out of her skin at the strange warmth the concrete had, it was as if there was a nuclear explosion that had ripped through the room.

Felin rubbed her hand gently on the shadow which was cooler than the surrounding   
concrete as if something had stopped the burning heat from hitting the ground. Whatever the thing that created the shadow had left no trace.

The group moved quickly across the abandoned foyer deeper into the facility.

The atmosphere was eerie and the air was strangely heavy and warm.

They followed the hallway to a broken remains of a  door on the left side of the corridor, they entered to find what used to be an office. They walked through the room on singed brown Lino and across what looked like a bright red carpet.

The computer was open on the login screen their was a circle on the screen that showed a severe woman in her late forties. Her mud brown hair was in a low bob.

Reddy brown eyes looked directly into the camera, typed neatly under the photo was the name 'Militia Fighter'.

She looks familiar ara said her head tilting to the left in confusion. "She looks just like   
Pahnch and probably is related to her kitten" Felin replied after a second.

"Um. Excuse me i.i.i found something h.h.here" Bella called pulling several papers out of the desk draws. The top paper is labelled militia fighter on the effect of emotional trauma of the human soul, the second paper is labelled militia fighter on the effect of verbal abuse on the human soul.

The last paper is labelled militia fighter on the effect of different situations on the human soul. Highlighted is the line that said when some one is betrayed by someone they really trust such as a mother, a brother, father or sister the soul can  lean towards the outside the body the more the subject trusts the betrayer the more drastic the angle the soul leans at. The more shocking the betrayal the better the results.

After reading this ara started feeling ill. Was this what her parents were working on. Not the mum and dad she knew it couldn't be true could it? Ara didn't know what to think anymore.

Bella started shaking and Howlard said a bad joke "what insect do you get when you throw butter across the room. A butterfly" which Bella let out a shaky smile to. Ara didn't respond at all. The shock had her freezing momentarily. Her heartbeat loudly drumming in her ears deafened her causing her to miss the conversation around her.

Ara turned and looked at Felin her red eyes showing all her emotion she walked forward and wrapped her arms around her.

"Come kittens lets go." Felin purred softly, arms still around ara she led her out of the room she silently motioned for everyone else to follow her and they did but not before Delphina delicately huffed and urchula muttered something that sounded like "what losers".


	13. The scientist

They moved further down the corridor past a cupboard and break rooms before finding another office this office was larger than the last and had two desk lined up on other sides of the room to each other.

the right side had a computer on the Middle and on the side was a photo of Ara back  
before her transformation she was stood between Dante and Judas and they all were  
smiling out of the picture.

The computer was on its login screen and a smiling picture , her mothers warm brown eyes and blonde dyed hair. Looking at her mother she remembered her mums last words. "Ara if anything happens to us remember the sun will come out tomorrow."her mum then had then followed her dad out the door.

Ara walked towards the computer and to everyone's confusion she typed into the  
passwords slot 'annie'. The computer then logged in.

"Kitten how did you know that"Felin questioned confused "that's me" Ara said pointing to the smiling girl in the photo. she continued to look through the computer files before finding a folder named Tomorrow's sun.

Ara opened the folder and looked inside their written were what guessed to be different scientists. There was Antonia Lester née caritas trusted by ara Lester. Militia fighter  
closest to Suzy Crane née fighter. Knofmar Minoil trusted by Brianna Empirical and Qwint Eri. Knofmar Minoil was trusted by Carlotta Montoya , Bella was trusting towards a woman called megan Frost. Their were also names she didn't know the scientist Celest closest to delia.

A scientist called Forin closest to a girl called Ursula. Ara continued to scan until she reached her fathers name which to her shock said, Adam Lester closest to Dante Lester. What did this mean.

"It just looks like a list of names" Delphina said with a shrug "it doesn't look very important we should continue on."

"Yeah numpty lets keep looking", Urchula said instantly agreeing with Delphina. They then turned and walked out of the room.

Ara was confused why did her mum want her to see this it made no sense, Ara shrugged she would put it aside for the moment as she had greater things to worry about and she could think more about it later.

Felin pressed print on the document and picked up the paper and placed in Ara's back pack. They went to the other side of the room to the other desk a book was filled with complex equations that Ara didn't even try to understand.

However Felin seemed to understand, she turned and looked at them, "I don't like this it looks like they were playing with things they did not truly comprehend, trying to stop this Cold War"

"Felin what do you mean" Ara said confused cocking her head to the side.

"Kitten even though there has been no physical shooting we are definetly in a war and your parents were trying to stop it" felin explained

"I nearly forgot your day job is a scientist isn't it" Howlard remembered.

"That's right I was asked to join the reaper initiative but I declined and was sacked,  
Carlotta however told me every thing she new that's why i know that whatever happened here was bad news, Carlotta has been trying to find a way out of her job for ages now but she knows to much so she can't just leave. I hate so say it but there is a very low chance that anyone is still alive."

Felin softly stated her Amber fixed on the young girl. Ara took in a deep breath the only show of emotion was the slight hitching of her breath.

"Can I .h.hhug you" Bella stuttered Ara silently nodded and Bella wrapped ara in a hug silently lending her support to ara. Ara held her eyes tightly shut as she softly nodded. "I understand felin I really do"

Ara tried again vainly trying to get rid of the tearsand the hiccups that had crept into her voice. Ara quickly took the photo of her family before silently following after the adults Bella next to her, Ara's steps now hesitant.

The next room was the same size as militias room the only difference was two picture on her desk and the two acid green rugs on the floor.

Urchula and Delphina were already there, Delphina was effortlessly leaning on the bare left wall, her hands hidden behind her back, her golden locks had fallen across her face concealing it, urchula was standing next to her bouncing her foot up and down.

The first photo was of a small slender olive skinned and ruby haired woman with sharp clever brown eyes that held concealed sadness even as she smiled next to Howlard, back before he had his floppy brown ears and brown tail but Ara new it was him with his frizzy Afro of brown hair and the scar on his left cheek.

The second photo was of the woman, howlard and two other people on a stage, the man holding a guitar was not familiar to Ara, he had a strong jaw, he was wearing a dark green shirt with an open collared shirt over the top, and blue jeans, he was bald and his eyes were closed in concentration.

Ara turned away from him and she stared at the second, a woman who seemed familiar with her knowing eyes, thin lips and her stoic expression and powerful stare.

The only thing missing was Felin's bushy tail, sharp retractable claws and folded cat ears. ,"is that you Felin" Bella suddenly asked Felin nodded, "it was such a hassle trying to convince Lottie that all three of us should be in the band, in the end we ended up asking one of her friends from work into the band so their was an even number"

Howlard had a sad smile on his face as he looked at the picture, "she hated numbers  
being odd she had to do things in even numbers 2 4 6 8 hated to do things any other way", he sadly reminisced about the woman in the photo who smiled out at him.

Written in a sloppy rushed handwriting on a piece of paper on the desk was a strange note. It said "what comes from water is always deceptive, never trust whoever has your trust, those closest to scythe wielding death will turn against you."

Ara was confused but placed the note in her backpack anyway. Delphina tutted and  
Urchula rolled her eyes as they left the room, Ara spun the chair distracted and scrawled on a note on the seat of the chair was another note.  
this note was just as confusing as the last "fathers will turn brothers against sisters, sisters vs friend will b coerced into harming those she loves, friends will send clues to friends that will bring them to deaths scyth wielding cloaked figure, mothers will know nothing, sisters will fill sisters with hate, not having a connection can be a connection," Ara was extremely confused what did Carlotta mean.

Ara was pretty sure it was carlottas office. Why would she leave these notes, she turned to Felin who was deep in thought, she then turned to Howlard who merely shrugged, Howlard sadly held the photo of him and the woman from the desk who Ara knew he loved like a sister and placed it in the backpack.

As they were leaving she saw something on the door it was a note with a single sentence "those who are fishy things, are truly fishy" Ara took the note, they then left the room with more questions than answers.

 

The group continued to go through different doors Urchula and Delphina were fed up with it and ended up going to the end of the corridor and sitting next to the large double doors,  
The next rooms held nothing of importance, there was the office of the accountant Lira a plain boring looking lady who was boredly staring out of a picture of her holding a prize.

The receipts on her desk showed they had recently bought a large amount of animals, several types of cats dogs and spiders, there was a refund for killer bees, wasps and   
hornets, they had bought three different types of sea urchin, it was written that killer whales were to big and expensive, also written was that 'platypuses were to hard to get so a female dolphin would have to do', and several crates of live butterfly's were also   
purchased.

"According to the the news the reapers were experimenting on splitting souls from many different types of animals this shows that they are probably correct," Felin explained to ara and bella.

Bella shook her head her brown hair swaying back and forth. "No nnnot megan, she   
cccan't be a part of this, not my friend mmmegan.

She turned sharply to leave Ara moved to stop her and instead knocked over another   
container of receipts. It was megan being reimbursed for buying an inclosure for a monarch butterfly.

Ara picked up another receipt for her dad being reimbursed for 2 lots of archery lessons and a tank for a spider. Their were other receipts mixed marshal arts, dog collars and vet bills, cat collar and more vet bills, two tickets for An aquarium.

Ara never really understood math so she put away the receipts and left the room.

Their were several more rooms down the hallway Ara called down the corridor to urchula and Delphina "do you guys want to go into the rest of the rooms because I want to look into them."

"Do you have to its not like theirs going yo be anything important in those rooms but if you must then I geuss there is nothing we can do, though there is absolutely no point to doing it." Delphina called back to Ara absolutely bored.

Urchula nodded as usual she always completely agreed with everything Delphina was   
saying.

Ara walked to the next door it said "Sinthi and Sithi. She opened the door and walked   
inside bella Felin and Howlard following in behind her. In the middle of the room was a fountain, it was a y shape that water slowly trickled down the body of the y starting from the top two forks at the top, the water only caused a slight ripple as it reached the pool of water at the bottom of the fountain.

At the plaque at the bottom of the fountain "the converging rivers" was Ingraved in large bold letters. Past the fountain was a large desk that spanned the whole back wall there two chairs and four monitors two facing towards each chair.

On the back of the left chair was written sinthi's chair and written of the back of the right chair was written sithis chair. In the middle of the desk in the middle of the of where the chairs were located was a picture frame.

It was of two identical looking women. They wore exactly the same blue lipstick and   
eyeshadow. There blue saris were an identical style and colour and their arms were wrapped around each other's shoulders their black strait hair flowed identically down their backs. There was no discernible difference Ara could see between the two of the women.

Ara rummaged through the papers on the desk. Types of water borne parasites and their effects of human, types of pathogens found it water. It was just a lot of things about water, illness and their effects on the human body.

"I knew those girls they were sssort of nice to me, I mmmean they did aways add strange chemicals into people drinks when they mmmmade them but iiii never take food or drink from people I don't trust and I don't trust very easily, sso I was never had aaany problems with them myself." Bella quietly muttered from where she stood near the door.

"Thanks bella that was TOO INTERESTING," drawled Delphina from the door.   
"You should just continue to not talk flutters" Urchila snarked from her position beside   
Delphina her black eyes cold as she studied bella's quiet form.

Bella awkwardly fluttered her monarch butterfly wings behind her back and looked at the ground refusing to meet Delphina and urchulas harsh judging gazes.

"There's no need to be so Prickly Urchula" Howlard yipped hiding his irritation under his puns and jokes. Urchula glared at him as Delphin huffed delicately before flipping her hair, turned on her heel before she glided out of the door.

"Umm. Sh...should w..w..w.we go. Or we could just keep going sslowly through just to aanoy her iii don't mind which really. Um" bella stutter was even worse now the small self worth she had was gone and she stared at the floor not meeting anyone eyes.

"That's a good idea Bells lets do that. I like your second option." Ara enthused trying to give Bella some self confidence. Howlard smiled at Ara his soft warm brown eyes filled with the appreciation he felt for Ara some what weak attempt to help bella. He knew that Ara was trying and that was all that mattered to Howlard.

Felin nodded showing her agreement with Howlard. Ara knew Felin never smiled so she knew that this was Felin showing her full support was behind Ara and she felt for the first time in her life that she was able to do something right. She felt like she was able, to not be the failure she was always told she was.

Ara left the room bella walking beside her Felin and Howlard walked behind them. Felin and Howlard were talking quietly to each other. They didn't trust Urchula and Delphina and the two late teenaged girls needed someone to look after them.

Or that was at least how Felin and Howlard felt. Bella had no self confidence and was   
almost able to talk to them without immediately going back on what she had just said.

There was also ara. The spider hybrid was extremely scatterbrained. She would start   
talking about one subject before she would jump to another topic without realising it.

Then after she talked about that subject for a bit she would then as absentmindedly as she had first moved to that topic she would move back to that first topic,

Felin found that confusing but Howlard who always had high energy found it was quite easy keeping up with her. Her mind was a little bit all over the place but Felin and Howlard found it extremely endearing, cute and sweet.

The small group except Delphina and Urchula moved to the next to room. The room had a strange decor choice, everything looked carefully chosen, it looked like a psychiatrist office opulent but done in such a way it would put you at ease. It reminded ara of the sets she saw in drama, carefully chosen to look real but had an air of fakeness around it, if you payed attention.

There were no pictures on the desk, the computer had a thumb print scan to get into it.   
Felin saw there was no way to get into the computer so she went to leave as she saw there was nothing she could do.

Ara however cast her sharp red eyes over the computer and noticed that the thumb print scanner was connected to the computer through the thumb drive outlet. Ara simply   
disconnected it and the computer screen flashed for a moment before the words "welcome Ara" appeared on the screen momentarily before they vanished and the computer   
unlocked.

Ara gasped in shock and she jumped back from the computer. Felin whirled around claws out as she heard her startled gasp.

Ara looked through the computer Ara saw that there was a map of the building. However the map seemed a little bit off to her. She looked through it but she didn't know what she was looking for. Bella looked over Ara's shoulder.

"Uum aaara the rooms a the the wrong size."  
"What do you mean Bella."

"If yyou believe this mmap, then your parents office is the same size as everyone else. It shows nnno differences. It's like your mums part of the rrroom doesn't exist. Aaalso   
Carlottas room is smaller than it actual is."

"Oh yeah, Bella was learning to be an architect"  
"Iii couldn't do it i wwwwould have to talk to ccclients and I'm not very good at speaking in front of ppppeople. Though you probably already realised that. Sorry"

"It's fine bells there is nothing for you to apologise for. It's all good."

"I say don't trust this guy's Map it seems dodgy and were disadvantaged enough without being sabotaged by this guy."


	14. Forin

Ara moved towards Urchula and Delphina at the end and opened the last door. The room was an open room Ara moved forward and something swung low above her head and she scuttled low forward, she went to move her leg forward and had to quickly throw her leg backwards as a spike shot up out of the ground.

Ara was scared and to calm herself she hummed her mothers rhym under her breath then it hit her try the rhym the scuttle forward like a spider had already worked. "Guys I've got it scuttle forward like a spider."

Bella followed scuttling forward wings tight to her back. A metal block swung down towards her but missed her. Ara leapt right missing the sharp spikes that rose to miss her, she then dived forward and downwards missing the spikes that rushed out of the wall.

Ara bobbed down and held still as flames shot into the air above her she stayed still until the flames stopped. Ara than ran around in a circle a heat seeking bullet followed her but crashed into a second bullet as she finished her circle.

Ara then jumped forward holding onto the cieling hovering in the air as the ground below was filled with more flames after the flames were gone Ara walked forward normally and opened the door deactivating all the traps.

Bella was shaking violently her eyes were blown wide she had curled into herself on the floor. Felin carefully helped her up from the floor and ushered her to where Ara stood   
calmingly rubbing her back.

Everyone else quickly crossed the room before they walked through the door and Ara found herself in a huge cavernous circular room.

there were six chairs around a circular table the chairs had extremely high backs and carved into the wood of the tall backs were an animal there was a spider, a dog, a cat, a sea urchin, a dolphin and a butterfly.

Felin hissed under her breath "I don't like this" Ara, Bella and Howlard nodded in agreement.

Delphina and urchula merely looked at each other had a silent conversation before saying "why don't we sit down its not that menacing."

 

  
"I really don't like this" Howlard whimpered. Urchula moved forward and sat on her   
assigned seat. Nothing happened.   
Delphina sat down on her seat before she deftly crossed her legs in one smooth fluid   
motion, again nothing happened. Ara bella, Howlard and Felin finally sat down. There was a moment of silence before metal shackles slid over their arms and legs, even urchula and Delphina.

Ara's chair had glass cups that covered her hands stopping her from using the acid from her fingertips.

They all looked extremely shocked as the camera in the middle flickered to life. "Hello beasts" a smug masculine voice spoke from the speakers on the computer.

"If all has gone to plan then we have spiced up life around town. I'm Forin and I'm going to explain to you about what's going on."

A face appeared on the monitors on the table. The face was that of a very smug man he had sharp cold black eyes and slicked back black hair. He had a very strong accent but from where Ara couldn't place. Ara struggled but her bonds were to tight and she couldn't move an inch.

Forin said "I am the leader of the REAPER Initiative. We are looking for the next best weapon. conventional weaponry is boring and conventional. Fission and fusion is to   
energy intensive. Biological and chemical weaponry is a step in the right direction but to wild.

We have the most interesting, least, energy intensive , controllable weapon that is   
everywhere. The worlds greatest weaponry. Ladies and gentleman I give you the REAPER Initiatives ultimate weapon. The Human Soul." Forin was gleefully happy.

Ara looked at Felin, bella and howlard concerned Howlard gave her a comforting smile and Felin mouthed to her "it's going to be fine".

Bella nervously smiled at Ara, as she fluttered her wings.

"However" Forin said his energy dropping slightly. "The human soul is a wilful thing and very hard to seperate from the human body this is where you six come in. We will tear your souls out of your body using this machine that in turn will loosen every one else's body's bond to their souls." His smile was sinister and Ara did not like the turn things were going.

Forin had now stood back from the screen his whole body could be seen and he was   
gesticulating wildly in his malicous glee and excitement.

"As I said before it is very hard to split a human soul and as you were it would be very   
difficult to split your souls but we found a way to loosen your souls. Drive a wedge   
between you soul and you body.

The same way you would heat up a metal spoon to scoop ice cream with less difficulty. However souls are intangible things so we couldn't just drive a crow bar into your body and prise it out. We can use creatures with weaker souls and combine it with the a human soul." Felin continued.

"Doing that would increase the tangibility and density of the soul, making something that intangible semi tangible would have adverse reactions to the host creating a huge set of dangerous symptoms" Felin broke in shocked at her realisation.  
"English please Felin" Howlard asked confused. Ara however looked at Felin in terror as she started to comprehend what was going on. As they spoke the recording of Forin paused allowing them to speak.

"What I mean is that somehow they combined our souls with the souls of animals. I know this for certain because the added animal souls caused our change in appearance. Your dog ears, Ara's mandibles, hair and eye colour change." Felin elaborated.

"That can't be right me and Del wasn't supposed to be part of it. We were going to deliver you guys here and we would get our reward, they promised us. Promised us." Urchula whined upset.

"I changed my beautiful legs for this grey abomination for nothing. That is the absolute worst news. ABSOLUTE WORST NEWS." Delphina screeched her blue eyes lighting up in rage.

"Um. CcCould we stop talking. It um just that I'd like to l.l.learn more but he pauses when ever you speak. If that's. Ah. Not to d.d.difficult." Bella softly broke in her voice barely   
audible above the slow lazy swish of the machine overhead. Ara nodded turning her   
attention to the computer in the middle.

"Brianna you should have realised with all of your years that nothing is for free. Your new little kitty cat, Howlard your new little puppy dog, ara your creepy crawly thing."

Ara pouted at the monitor Wayne was not a creepy crawly thing she was an awesome scary vigilantly superhero of a Sydney funnel web spider and her pet, well she was before she vanished.

"Delia, Ursula You know how I offered you 2 million dollars to deliver those four to us and promised that you wouldn't be injured? Well I lied. you see the stronger the negative   
emotion the looser the souls grip on the body.

You two are a jackpot of negative emotions. Delphina your pride, selfishness and vanity are three very powerful forces and a major help for us so thank you.

Urchula your self hatred your disgust of people who are not Delphina, your loose morals and your blatant disregard for human Life and your strange all consuming devotion of Delia. have made you a prime candidate for soul removal." Forin smirked at the camera and paused for effect letting the information sink in for everyone.

Ara almost couldn't believe it. Delphina and urchula were part of their team. how could do they do this to us.

A feeling of despair settled on ara as she thought of her family, both of them her biological family and this little family the beasts had made. Her mother and father were sociopathic scientist who didn't care about human life, her brothers had abandoned her for her parents cause even dear sweet Judas.

Now her new family had betrayed her for this stupid cause. Ara was filled with rage and sadness, she couldn't hide the tears of hatred and sadness that rolled down her cheeks and dripping of her chin onto her shirt burning small irregular holes into the worn and dirty material of her black shirt. Ara had truly trusted the beautiful vain woman and her lackey and the betrayal stung like she had been slapped.

"Brianna your so vain you feel like you won your boyfriend over a sociopathic scientist. I hope your happy to know that Carlotta was never given the chance to run away she was much more important than a theoretical physicist.

A mathematician of her caliber was invaluable. It was an amazing coincidence all the failed test were all odd numbers. It gave that silly girl an irrational fear of those number." Forin put emphasis on the words amazing coincidence making Ara doubt him.

Howlard growled under his breath and snarled at the monitor "Lottie was not a silly girl she was an amazing woman. Amazingly fierce, loving and loyal. She didn't let anything get in her way she put a hundred and two percent into everything she did. You traumatised my sister in everything but blood.

You didn't see the pure fear in her eyes when ever things were an odd number. It was as if she anticipated that everything would be exploded or I'd get injured. Such a strong spirit completely broken. No pulverised" Howlard was panting his mouth was contorted in a snarl his sharp canine teeth shining in the dim light.

The rage in his brown eyes burned brightly. It was the angriest Ara had ever seen him, it terrified her. Felin was nodding along agreeing with every word her face showed no   
emotion but her Amber eyes were almost luminous in her pure unbridled rage. The   
machine above began to slightly spin faster as the negative emotions weakened the bond between body and soul.

"I never won Howlard she loved him as a brother though she was unsure of that at first which was why she still dated him at the start." Felin told the monster in front of her, her indignation making her forget that it was a pre recorded message she was talking to instead of a real flesh and blood person.

"Exactly we became better friends after we broke up our relationship was much better after. Our relationship just wasn't meant to be a romantic one." Howlard   
affirmed backing up his girlfriends last sentence even though he realised that the message was prerecorded he just didn't want Felin to feel left out.

"Bella you weak insignificant speck of dirt. Your useless and spineless. What else is there to say. You don't have any strong emotions, your absolutely pathetic. Your only here   
because we needed to get you lot here" Forin quickly waved her off with his hand as if   
trying to get rid of a bad smell.

"I'm not that bbbbad am I. Iiiiiii know I'm bad but nnnot to that mmmmuch. I'm ppprobably wrong though. Sorry." Bella looked at the floor her insecurities flooded through her.

"Your not that bad your a wonderful kind loving young lady. Don't listen to him kitten." Felin reaffirmed the nervous girl her Amber eyes showed her sincerity. Howlard nodded his   
floppy brown ears flopped up and down.

"Qwint you disgust me, hiding all your negative emotions under a blanket of puns and stupidity. i know you though, your as twisted as I am on the inside. You denying it won't Change your fate. " Forin took a breath before changing his tactic.

"Your poor friend you love like a sister you could do nothing to save her. She is beyond your help now. The explosion that was the catalyst for your change was courtesy of the very lovely Megan, the odd number hating Carlotta and everyone's favourite mother   
Antonia."

"NOOO" Bella, Ara, Felin and Howlard let out a deafening yell. Ara's voice was filled with pain and disbelief. That was her mother he was so callously talking about.

Bella was sad and confused megan had been her only friend.

Howlard was filled with intense pain that was his sister. The person who had always   
always been their for him when ever he needed her if he realised it or not.

Felin was filled with grief lottie was her best friend along with Howlard. The beautiful feisty woman who was always there for all her friends. A gifted mathmatician and all around intelligent person.

She had never maliciously tried to coax an emotional response out of her. She was the second person to realise just how expressive her eyes were and that gave her a special place in Felins heart a place right beside her first friend and husband Howlard, she was also the second friend she had ever made.

"Last and definetly least is little Arabella Antonia Lester, the youngest child of Adam   
Lester Lester and Antonia Gratia Lester Née Caritas. Your mother was a very good social scientist but not a very good people person.

You dad was a great physicist and very good at talking people into doing what he wanted them to do. People such as you, your brothers and especially your dear mother. You were and are such a disappointment for them you failed even at her fake miserable 'science'. You always were a let down for them.

Your best subject was drama. Seriously drama I would say it was a waste but you can't waste rubbish and that's all you are." The whole time Forin was talking was in a cruel   
sickly sweet way as if he was talking to a young child or baby.

Ara however was torn between laughing and crying. Forin was handing out insults the same way a creepy old man would hand outs sweets promising that there were more in his white van.

"We made it so all six of you were in a strong emotional state before we detonated the souls. You know what il tell you what will happen for me and what will have already   
happened before hand.

I got two emotional ladies in the seats you are sitting at the moment. And revealed to them what all their work had lead to. Mrs Antonia Lester, miss Megan Alsana and Miss Carlotta Parity.  
The looks on their faces were delicous. Felin, Howlard your Carlotta she had been fighting against us the whole time.

She tried to warn you but she was far to late, she tried to leave you four notes but thanks to the lovely Delphina and Urchula her notes should have been taken but seeing you guys are able to see this recording shows that they took at least the important notes. You don't understand the extreme effort that was taken just to get you to this point." He paused   
glaring displeased.

"To get the country wide spread we need we need at least 8 people but even the most powerful machine we made could only deconstruct was three people. However it could work on eight people with loosened souls. That's where miss parity, miss Alsana and Mrs Lester came in.

We rapidly discontruct them and the power from that is used to weaken your souls with   
animal ones then with the help of misters Lester, Mrs fighter and Andy you will get to this very room. Now I really must thank you on the behalf of the whole of the REAPER   
Initiative and all associated parties for your cooperation with this little project."

He was interrupted by a woman's musical voice calling out from behind him.

"Forin you can't use the machine Ludd was tinkering with it earlier and it hasn't been   
tested since there's an 84% chance that it will malfunction it always does after he adjusts it."  
He smirked at them , before turning and looking at the room behind him "I didn't forget about you ladies so don't worry. As always, ladies first." He pressed a button offscreen and a searing light lit up the monitors and the room was filled with the pained screams off Carlotta, Megan and Antonia.

The surprising thing however was the agony filled yell of Forin who was caught of guard and was unwillingly eviscerated by the malfunctioning machine

  
C


	15. Hopeless

The monitors flickered before filling with static and going silent.  
Ara could only watch in horror as machine above them turned on and started spinning and whirling noisily above them quickly.

Ara could only close her eyes in hopelessness as her soul was ripped from her body. Urchula and Delphina felt so stupid how could they have fallen for this. They were   
supposed to be they ones who were there to betray not be the ones who were betrayed. it had all gone horribly, horribly wrong.

They could only curse their false friends in their last moments. Felin and Howlard looked at each other sadly as there was nothing they could do.

Their journey like all journeys had come to an end.

No Ara's scarlet eyes flew open if she had to go she would leave her mark. Didn't the notes say that the more betrayed or hurt they felt the stronger the machine would be, she scanned the room looking for something that would changer her mood the sharp chairs.  
No.

the terrifying whirling machine above, nope. the betrayers Urchula and Delphina, definetly not. stoic Felin and a strange solemn howlard not bothering to close his sad eyes. That wasnt it or was it Howlard that's it.

She quickly threw all the bad jokes and puns she knew around in her head and went for the first one she could think of and yelled it at Howlard above the sound of the whirling machine.

"Hey Howlard this is a very ruff situation for you" Howlard merly huffed sadly still   
despairing but Felin looked at her confused.

Ara mouthed at her "I have a plan help me out" Felin nodded before calling out to Howlard "you usually howl with laughter raising the roof." Urchula rolled her eyes "fools your done for this is the end your souls poof from your body soul goes everywhere. Bam. Simple."

"Hey Urchula why do you have to be so prickly" Ara quickly countered. The tearing feeling was now a dizzying feeling. The black spots in her vision and The pressure on her temples was just like the start of a migraine but she ignored it to grin at Howlard who finally let out a soft barking laugh.

He grinned before saying "Felin you didn't have to paws."

Ara started shaking with laughter Felin rolled her eyes warmly before Howlard replyed "do you know what the new mother dog was arrested for."

"No I don't" Ara said confused. "She was arrested for littering" Howlard's barking laugh bounced around the room Felin was smiling warmly at the others.

Delphina and Urchula were scowling deeply their anger hatred and betrayal still feeding the machine. Ara who was only filled with despair had a pounding headache so she couldn't imagine how bad they were feeling with their two strong complex emotions being pulled out of them roughly.

Bella finally understood what Ara Felin and Howlard were trying to said a very bad joke of her own "I wanted to go to the zoo to see a lot of animals but there was only a small dog. It was a shih-tzu" the atmosphere was now very light and the whining of the machine was much softer warmer and the pulling now felt like a warm bath instead of scalding water   
being poured on the skin.

"Mutts you hound me with the bad puns" Felin hissed no heat in her tone. The atmosphere in the room was light and happy bella fluttered her soft wings, Howlard was madly wagging his tail.

Ara was grinning like a fool and Felin had a warm glow in her Amber eyes.

Ara smiled at Felin before saying " you better be kitten me right meow" bella was now laughing so hard tears were running Down Her face.

She giggled before looking a Delphina and saying "I knew you you had a dodgy purpiose" Delphina looked around the room it was hopeless then she realised the machine was there to slowly pull their souls out of them if a soul was given quickly that would hopefully break the machine. She looked at Urchula, she would easily give her life for Delphina but Urchula had already traded her vision so Delphina decided she would do it for them.

The nervous girl who Delphina had constantly belittled, the unfeeling cat woman, the pun cracking dog, the ditsy spider hybrid and most importantly Urchula her dear young friend who had sacrificed her eyes for her and would do it again.

Delphina closed her sparkling saphire eyes letting out a breathy "goodbye before she transformed her two long shapely grey legs into a single tail but because she was   
restrained the bottom of her legs was removed the blood loss was extreme and rapid.

She quickly fainted. Her heart couldn't handle this quick loss of blood pressure and she quickly died. The pale pink drained from her porcelain cheeks, her perfect pink rose bud of a mouth was relaxed in a sweet smile as the light pink of her lips became a deathly white.

Her bright light blue eyes that had allways shone like polished cut blue sapphires were now dull and lifeless as if they were stones rejected by a jewler. She would stay like that forever, like a young girls porcelain doll her parents had told her to keep on a high shelf to keep it from being damaged.

As soon as her heart stopped as even though it valiantly tried it just couldn't pump blood that wasn't there, her shackles released her fragile, broken, pale corpse onto the cracked unforgiving tiles.

She stayed there crumpled broke lay against the bottom of her chair, her spun white   
golden hair was quickly staining pink in the pool of blood she lay in.

The machine was made to slowly pull away souls not quickly take them and was thrown of balance the bolts closest to Delphina snapping causing stress on the remaining bolts. Urchulla felt the loss of her partner in crime.

No not only that.

Delphina was urchulas heart and soul she would anything for that woman. She closed her eyes hiding the empty sockets praying and begging for anyone with the power to help her would appear and help.


	16. Izzy embodiment of chaos

It would seem her prayers were answered as a formidable woman appeared out of the shadows cast behind her chair by the flickering computer monitor. Ara shuddered as the pure uncontained power unfurled from the strange woman and rolled around the room.

She was incredible intimidating she was dressed like a queen; in ruby silks and midnight velvets, an intricately designed tiara that was made out of what looked like miniture stars, was nestled among her riot of ebony curls. She glided across the room to Urchula and her scarlet eyes flecked with jet black slivers silently judged Urchula.

"You know that I will help you but you also know the price, only something of equal or more value" the ethereal woman stated.

"My soul for delphi back completely" was Urchulas immediate reply.

"Your soul is not equal or more I need more than you posses" the woman's intense   
expression didn't change but Ara could tell she was planning something.

Urchula was looking around the room searching for something. Ara knew that Urchula would not think twice before trading anyone else in the group for Delphina back and Ara was correct.

"I will trade something of Ara's" Urchula quickly replied. The woman turned to look at Ara. Ara looked at the woman's scarlet eyes so similar to Ara's own she remembered the first time she had looked into the mirror and seen the unfimiliar red eyes looking back at her.

She had then held the mirror shard cutting her hand and the blood dissolving the back of the shard.

That was it her blood was the way out but they wouldn't leave without Delphina, Ara knew it so she made a descision for the good of the group. She swallowed and clenched her eyes shut momentarily before opening them and projecting her voice across the room.

"Urchula remember my blood has corrosive qualities. " Ara liked being able to choose. All she had to give was her senses, her mind and the clothes on her back. she just didn't have anything other than that to give up.

so she made up her mind on what vital part of her she would give before she gathered all her courage and said "Madame I will trade my memories for Delphina back."

"Your memories. All of them about who you are or were, you can have the useless   
information you have gained no one wants that" The woman seemed happy with the turn of events and looked at Ara hard looking for some sign she was being tricked.

Ara nodded she wanted to forget. Her whole life was a sham was born for the purpose to die, the people she loved and trusted her own parents and siblings had manipulated her to be the perfect test subject and Ara hated that fact.

Her memories were also the only thing she had. She would have preferred to not contributed anything but it was better choosing for herself rather than a desperate Urchula selling Ara's soul.

Ara had enough of this REAPER Initiative. She was sick and tired of their experiments.

There scientists and most of all Ara was done with her parents, how dare they raise her with soul purpose of being there ginnypig. Ridding the happy memories of them was a   
better outcome to Ara then remembering them and knowing it was all a lie.

"Yes I'm completely and utterly sure" Ara was full of conviction and it showed in her voice as she stared down the woman.

"Very well then I accept Mrs Ursulayour soul and miss Arabella Lesters   
memories for Delia ." The woman stated Ara and Urchula nodded. A click of the woman's fingers and she vanished Ara felt irritated she didn't do anything then suddenly a scorching desert wind filled the room.

Urchula's slim body started to distort it was if she was being viewed through the haze of heat that rose from the road on a 40degree day. Her nonexistent eyes filled with the   
illusion of clever black eyes. The tattered dress that had covered her bathers flickered in and out of focus before reforming.

"Where's Delphi" what used to be Urchula asked though the voice, if you could call it that. The sound was nothing, even nearly close to something that human vocal cords could recreate.

It was the groaning sound of a roof before it collapsed on you, the rumble of the earth   
before it was split open by an earthquake, it was the quite before the storm, the soft breaths of a terrified child hiding under a bed, it was an angry breeze raging img through a copse of wizened trees, it was the relentless waves slamming against the coastline, the strange discordant harmony of a thousand yowling cats, it was the soft gasp of breathe just before your soul left your body.

Delphina then suddenly gasped air rushing into her now resuscitated body, still lungs   
inflating and deflating drawing in breath then releasing it, her legs reattaching to her body the blood diving off the floor into her veins, arteries and capillaries. Her heart resuming its strong constant beats as blood refilled her empty heart.

As Delphina stood up Ara felt her head fill up with pain there was nothing but this strange unfimiliar all consuming pain roiling and boiling about in her skull; raking through her mind and memories, brain and thoughts hacking and slashing, bleaching and scrubbing, burning and purifying until there was nothing more than an empty feeling that she had forgotten something vitally important to her.


	17. Final chapter

She looked around the room, there was a lot of people in the room. She was attached   
firmly to a chair. A strange addition to this house she was in but people did love their statement pieces.

She didn't know them but she had a feeling that these people were important to her, she didnt know why though. She didn't want to make a bad impression so she smiled and said. "Hi it's nice to meet you all strange choice if decor though. I'm not judging though really"

It was odd she was tightly secured to a chair. She looked around the rather ominous high ceilinged room. There was a table with computer monitors on them. A machine spun   
lopsidedly on the room making a sick dull whining noise. There were a couple other   
people also restrained in chairs.

There was a frizzy haired man next season to her wearing some sort of brown dog   
cosplay, a woman wearing grey cat cosplay.

Thinking logically about it everyone was wearing cosplay. How incredibly odd.

The grey cat woman turned to look at her, face impassive the only emotions were being displayed in her odd shiny Amber eyes. "You are Ara or maybe your not, without our   
memories we are no different then the grass. I will call you Ara though." The woman   
explained after diverting momentarily  down an unrelated tangent.

Ara decided she knew this woman and that this woman was very important to her but she couldn't think past the burning feeling in her mind. "I'm sorry but I can't really remember you." Ara said feeling dissapointed in herself that she couldn't remember this important woman.

"My names Felin, the man with the brown dog ears is my husband Qwint. We are..." Felin trailed of momentarily Amber eyes burning into Ara. "I'm your.... Your adopted mother and Qwint is like your father."

What about her biological Parents?  that was odd trying to think of her biological parents gave Ara a headache and she didn't know how but she knew Felin was telling the truth.

So her little family had been caught in a trap that changed them into animal hybrids and left the caught in these chairs Ara didn't know how to free them but she had a feeling that the strange Asian girl in front of her held the key, to their freedom.

"How do we get out" queastiond Ara

"Sorry" was the girls answer as she sent a flurry of razor sharp needles out of her finger tips, the black razor sharp sea urchin needles flew across the room burying into the arms of Ara slicing the skin, Urchula had rememebered Ara saying she had been cut by the   
mirror shard and the shard was dissolved in Ara's blood.

Ara took in a sharp breath the needles were deep into her arms and the pain caused her muscle to flinch causing the needles to cut deeper.

She started moving her arms reflexively , flexing the muscle the needles were stuck in, she pushed past the pain the movement brought and instead concentrating on stopping her muscles from pushing the spines deeper into her arms blood ran down her arms onto the cuffs on her wrist and to her absolute shock the blood melted strait through them.

Ara removed har freed hands from the glass cups and gingerly removed the spines and dropped the blood onto her ankle cuffs freeing her. She quickly rescued bella, Felin and Howlard. She stopped and looked at urchula. The girl had always been so aloof and cruel towards her she had been working towards betraying them the whole time.

That confused Ara how did she know that and why did this girl bring her such a deep and overwhelming feeling of distrust and irritation. The several times urchula had probably betrayed them.

One planning the whole thing.

Two nearly killing everyone by telling them the wrong instructions.

Thirdly helping Delphina hide Carlotta's letter and lastly throwing the spines at her. The memories swirled through Ara's mind in a swirling mass around in her mind.

Ara felt sick these memories weren't hers couldn't be but they made sense if they did   
belong to her; but as quickly as they came they, left leaving Ara with a single logical   
conclusion.

Then Ara had came to the only conclusion that made sense to her in her dizzy confused state.

She would let chance choose. she then threw acid out of her now fingertips towards   
urchula. urchula saw it and threw her needles towards the acid.

The needles whent straight through the acid and into the spinning machine which exploded releasing the reapers souls contained in it. the massive metals shrapnel shards of the machine sliced through the air and towards the chair where urchula was still restrained.

To everyone's shock before the shards hit herm, urchulas body flickered out of existence. She reappeared next to Delphina.

"You should be more careful that acid could have hit me." Her voice was projected into there minds instead of being spoken out loud and the words bounced strangely around in Ara's skull.

Urchula turned towards the remains of the machine and pulled a metal cube that was   
pulsating with a strange thrumming energy. Urchula materialised a glowing sphere of pure ruby energy streaked with ill oily black streaks and pushed it into the box.

The box exploded in a shower of rainbow light.

The room was filled with the voices of strange men and women.

ara heard a heavily accented men's voice curse and scream at them. A deep masculin voice who called himself Her father was disappointed in her but two voices rose above the negativity of the rest.

One was a woman who called herself Antonia who told Holward and Felin to look after the young girls, her voice strangely soft and loving as she talked about Ara.

The other voice was the soft tones of a woman ara had Never heard before and had a strange musical lilt to it "Qwint, Bri I'm so sorry I couldn't stop them I tried, I tried so hard but unfortunately they moved to quick and I couldn't.

Now listen to me carefully this explosion will be taken as a threat and most probably nukes will be launched there, are some free cryostastis pods hidden in the big storage room. On the opposite side of the hallway to Megan's office.

Megan's office is out the opposite side of the room you came in. The first  room on the left with a light blue rug and white walls." The woman's musical voice then faded .

They rushed quickly out of the door into along hallway and looked into the first room on the left into a room with white walls and a light blue rug. She went into the room opposite.

The room was freezing and everyone started shivering as they entered Ara pulled her thin black shirt closer to her body trying to conserve as much body heat as possible, she   
regretted wearing her knee high denim shorts as the freezing air hit her lower legs.

In the room were what looked like thick glass phone booths but instead of a phone had a chair and control panel on the outside and written on the door was written "warning   
automatically locking latch."

The room stretched for what seemed forever and was filled with these phone booth in neat rows. All the ones they saw except four contained something. A majority of them were   
animals.

Most of them were cats and dogs however there also was boxes of why seemed like   
butterfly's, an array of different spider species and a few sea urchins.

What caused Bella to feel faint however was the human bodies sitting peacefully in there boxes. There was three women and two men, one of the women looked like she was 19 and only had her right arm, the second woman was cradling her stomach, the last woman looked to be in her late thirties and had a stern facial expression on her face, the first man was wearing an ugly jumper and had a long, shaggy white beard and the last man had  balding black hair. 

Felin spotted four empty pods they walked up to a different pod. Ara walked into the first pod and as sat down, she looked at the others as they sat in their pods. Urchula pulled a crate of sea urchins out of one of the pods and led Delphina into it.

A gas filled the pods and for the first time Ara could remember her quickly racing frenetic mind had slowed.

She felt exhaustion fill her and she closed her eyes as the machine froze delphina's, bella's, howlard's, Felin's and her body. Urchula sat down infront of delphina's pod forever watching over her.

As Urchula had no body to freeze and her new owner may have need of her.

And then the beasts were in peace.

Outside the Reaper compound nuclear weaponry went off.

And then earth the was in pieces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed this is my first big writing project so please let me know how I can improve.


End file.
